In The Eye of a God (INDEFINITELY POSTPONED)
by darkcat909
Summary: A "short" story of Naruto acquiring the Rinnegan through rather shady means. Contains elements from Naruhina and some other pairings. The plot is basically going to be the whole process of Naruto mastering each of the Paths, with occasional side-story arcs here and there.
1. Return

Authors note: Because I'm absolutely shite at character development, this short story thing is going to be set in the NaruHina Chronicles (by mattwilson83) universe. It's a seriously good series (and the rest of his work is pretty awesome as well) that I recommend you all check out. This will contain some minor passive spoilers of the NHC storyline, so if you're in the middle of reading that, I'd recommend you at least get up to chapter 57ish before reading this if you don't want spoilers. Another note, despite this being in the NHC universe, I'm going to try to keep the relationship stuff to a minimum, (excluding this first scene) simply because I'm not very good at it right now. You may also notice that my writing style changes abruptly in terms of how I pace conversations and how I write character's thought speech. This is intentional. If you want to leave a review, please make a note of which style you like better, how I can improve my writing, etc etc. Also please tell me if I've misspelled any words, or included unneeded honorifics or left out important ones.

Before I get to the copyright stuff, I just want to set a premise for this story. I wanted to write something about Naruto getting the Rinnegan, but not in the way I've seen everyone else do it. In those stories Naruto gains the Rinnegan through a bloodline, or by getting saved by the Rikudo sennin, etc etc. I also wanted to portray the Rinnegan in a more sinister fashion. In lots of stories I've read the Rinnegan is a tool to be wielded as nothing more than that. I wanted to make the Rinnegan something Naruto's opponents (and to an extent his friends) would _fear_ because of it's characteristics, rather than treat it as just another variable in the fight (or lack thereof).

Copyright stuff: I do not own the Naruhina Chronicles, I do not own Naruto, or any other manga/anime/doujin(shi) I appear to have borrowed from in this story. I only take credit for the content of this story, not the origin material. (That works right?)

In The Eye of a God

It had been four weeks since Uzumaki Naruto had been declared KIA. Four weeks since the beginning of her downward spiral into oblivion. Hinata was curled up in her bed. His bed. Their bed. She lay awake staring out the window into the moonless night, her mind devoid of thought. Since Naruto's death, Hinata had since mastered the art of emptying her mind of thought. Having thoughts meant being aware, and being aware meant that the hole in her heart grew bigger. The clock downstairs chimed twelve o' clock. The stars outside were the only source of light, dimly illuminating the village. Perfect conditions for an unexpected homecoming.

Having slipped through the gate when the ANBU guard shift changed, Naruto slowly made his way to their home. Slowly because he was heavily injured, a result of this, his most recent mission. Naruto briefly wondered if he was doing the right thing, returning home instead of going directly to the Hokage for debrief, then remembered all the reasons he had decided not to. Silently, he made his way through a connection of backyards and alleys, avoiding any and all people he saw. He finally stood in the backyard of his home. Without a moments hesitation, he grabbed the door handle and pushed. The door was silent, as though the act of use had greased it's hinges. Crossing the living room, over a sleeping Kosuke, Naruto wondered how Hinata was doing. Undoubtedly he had been declared KIA, or at least MIA. It pained him to realize that, until he was given permission, he couldn't tell his fiance anything, lest he risk lifetime probation. He limped upstairs, yet despite his heavy injuries, Naruto took care to make not a sound. He peered into their shared bedroom.

There she was. Naruto could see that Hinata was awake. Her eyes seemed dead and apathetic. Naruto stood there for a time, not moving, simply watching. His eye traveled the length of the room. It was messy, and uncared for. Uneaten food was everywhere, and Naruto recognized that a great deal of it was Sakura's cooking. He smiled. At least Hinata hadn't been alone in her suffering. He decided to announce himself. He knocked on the doorframe, still smiling slightly. Hinata didn't respond for a moment, then her eyes slowly moved in his direction. Naruto's smile became wider. "I'm home."

The man that looked like her fiance was severely injured, that much Hinata discerned instantly. She slowly uncurled and sat up on the bed, her eyes never leaving his one.

_His one?_

She continued to look him up and down, each pass making his appearance more gruesome. His arms were bandaged with dirty cloth, and his mask was gone. Presumably lost or destroyed. Part of his ANBU armor was gone, revealing a heavily bandaged torso. His face was the most disconcerting. He had a bandage that wrapped all the way around his head several times, covering up most of his hair, along with one of his sockets. Blood encrusted his skin where dirt was in short supply. Hope burgeoned within Hinata's chest, restored by the cocky smile that could only have belonged to the man she fell in love with as a girl. She rose from her bed and slowly, as though she were learning how to walk, made her way over to Naruto. His eye never left hers. "Not exactly the picture of health, am I." His breath was short and ragged, and the area around his mouth was speckled with dried blood. Tears welled in her eyes. "How-" was all she could force herself to say before she broke down and hugged Naruto close to her. Unseen to her, Naruto's visible eye bulged. "N-not so hard Hinata, you're crushing whats left of my ribs." Sobbing, Hinata loosened her grip, though not by any great deal.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata and did his best to not cry himself. Crying ruptured the tear ducts in his blue eye, giving him the appearance of crying blood. _'That's not an image she needs'_ thought Naruto. "Naruto..." Hinata cried into his chest "...What happened to you?" Naruto didn't respond. They stood there for several minutes, comforting each other and silently rejoicing in the fact that they were alive.

Naruto was pained that he had tortured her so. Quietly he asked "How long have I been KIA?" Lifting her head to look at his eye, Hinata whispered "Four weeks." "I see." "That's not funny." "Hm?" Naruto was confused. "Mocking your loss of sight isn't funny." "Oh." Naruto was conflicted. Here he was, unable to tell his fiancee that he had not lost his sight. He had, in fact, done nothing but gain during his mission. He decided to help her a bit. "Hinata...I'm not blind." Now it was Hinata's turn to look confused. "Then why-" She motioned to his bandage covering the eye that had nearly cost him his life. "...I...can't tell you." "Why?" Silence. "..Because I don't need to." This did nothing to help Hinata's confusion. "But-" "Try this, Hinata. Use YOUR eyes, and you may understand why." "My- oh!" Channeling chakra into her eyes, Hinata activated her Byakugan. What she saw shocked her beyond belief.

Naruto's chakra seemed normal throughout his body, excluding his right eye. There his chakra was..._ Different? No. Different does not do it justice._ Different, she thought, was the word you used to describe someone using a Kekkei Genkai. Whereas chakra normally flowed in a riverlike fashion throughout the body, the chakra around Naruto's right eye swirled, billowed, expanded and contracted in unexpected, seemingly random ways. Strange patterns formed for less than a second before disappearing just as quickly. Hinata, despite her shock and budding fear, became mesmerized by the mystical quality of the chakra in Naruto's eye. _Its almost like... he's a god..._ "Hinata," Naruto's voice snapped her out of her trance. "be careful. Try not to get lost." He wasn't joking. Hinata stared at Naruto, her byakugan deactivated. Questions swirled around in her head, but before she could voice them, Naruto clutched at his ribs as his knees buckled.

end of part 1

Author's note:

Still working on writing. I know this first part is really slow and boring, and unfortunately the next part kind of is as well. I will get to the action bits probably in part 3, but I'd like it if you could leave me any tips on writing combat scenes. I have a pretty good idea of how to write one sided beatdowns, but it's still good to know how to write level battles. Thanks for reading! part 2 will go up sometime in the next few days.


	2. Questions

Authors note:

I LIED. I had nothing else to do today, so here's what's left of my pre-upload writing. Updates will now be every other day or so, failing that, it'll be whenever I have time. I made some severe edits from when I had this idea down on paper, and I'm now making this up as I go. So this "short" story may end up being quite a bit longer than I intended. As before, feedback on absolutely everything is appreciated, especially tips on how to improve my writing. Thanks for reading!

Copyright stuff: The only thing I own here is the content of this story, none of the origin material.

In The Eye of a God, Chapter 2

_Well shit_. Out of all the things that could have gone through Naruto's mind at that moment, all he could muster was a feeble stab at profanity. His lungs felt as though they were going to collapse. His feet and arms felt as though the Suna sun was burning them, and his tear ducts threatened to burst again. Hinata half dragged, half carried his semi-conscious form over to the bed. Carefully arranging his limbs so that he'd be comfortable, Hinata looked into Naruto's eye, an expression of controlled panic on her face. "Naruto, I'm going to get Tsunade-sama, don't you dare fall asleep ." As she turned to leave, Naruto, fighting to stay awake, called in a strained voice. "No! Please Hinata, get Sakura or Ino or someone. Just not ba(a?)-chan." Already nearly out of the room, Hinata paused and looked back at him. "Why not Tsunade?" She felt she knew the answer to that already though. "Because..." Naruto paused to emit a series of hacking coughs. "...She'll want answers to questions I don't feel ready to answer yet." Hinata hesitated, then nodded. "Okay Naruto, I'll get Sakura-chan." Naruto smiled as he heard the door slam downstairs, accompanied by the sound of Hinata's feet echoing through the street as she ran to Sakura and Sasuke's shared apartment.

_Mission Accomplished_. That was the last thing he thought of before he surrendered to the darkness lurking at the edge of his consciousness.

_He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive_

The words resonated throughout Hinata's mind as she ran as fast as her weakened state would allow.

_He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive_

The only question now was how long he'd stay that way.

_He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive He's alive_

Hinata rounded a corner and burst through the door to the apartment building that Sakura shared with Sasuke.

_Naruto is alive_

Hinata arrived at the door to their apartment and knocked hard several times. A minute passed. Hinata made a fist and started banging on the door as hard as she could. A muffled voice she recognized as Sasuke's came from within the apartment. "ALRIGHT! I'M COMING, YOU ASSHOLE!"

Hinata knew Sasuke would be angry at being woken up in such a fashion. She didn't care. The door opened, revealing Sasuke in white robes with the Uchiha symbol on his sleeve. "You have precisely FOUR seconds beg for- oh, it's you Hinata." "Sasuke, I'm really sorry I woke you up at this time of night, but is Sakura home?" "I'm here." Sakura appeared in the doorway a few moments after her voice did. She was wearing robes similar to Sasuke's except hers were blue with sakura flowers decorating them. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned.

"What's happened? Is something wrong?" Speaking as fast as her voice would allow, Hinata spoke in a desperate voice. "Naruto's alive, but he's heavily injured!" Ignoring the looks of shock on both their faces, Hinata grabbed Sakura's wrist, her face pleading with Sakura "Please, he doesn't want Tsunade asking him questions right now, and you're the only one with experience to match hers." Sakura shook off the look of incredulity she knew she had, and replied in the calm even voice that all medic nin had to have. "Okay, let me get dressed." "I'm coming too." Sasuke said in a confident voice that Sakura could tell was a farce for worry. Hinata nodded frantically. "Please hurry, I don't know how much time he has."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto came to in an unfamiliar bed. He wondered if he was dead, and the if afterlife was just the comfortable feeling of being in a warm bed in the dark. But as his senses slowly returned to him, the more he became certain that he did in fact, have a body, and given that he had a body, the only logical explanation was that he was alive. He opened his eye. Good. Naruto thought. The bandage is still in place. He looked around the room he was in, which he recognized as Sakura and Sasuke's. Medical equipment, some of it improvised, lay around the bed he was in. As his eye travelled around the room, he realized that Sasuke was sleeping in an armchair near the bed. So was Sakura. Hinata was nowhere to be seen, but Naruto surmised that she could be on his blind side. He could have checked, but when he tried to move, his ribs complained so much that he felt he might break them again.

"You're awake." The voice of Kakashi came from his right. "That I am." Replied Naruto, grunting. He lay there for a while longer, not saying anything, and getting no questions from Kakashi. He then asked, "Who else is here?" Kakashi sounded amused when he responded with "So that eye can't see through fabric." _Fuck_. Naruto thought. _How does he know? At least he doesn't seem to realize it's been sealed. He probably doesn't realize because even when sealed, the power of this eye is immense_ "No, it can't. So who else is here?" "Hinata is over here, along with Kiba and Mina. Tsunade came in for a brief time to supervise moving you to this apartment. She would have insisted you were moved to the hospital instead, but after seeing your wounds, she seemed to think better of making you move the extra distance." Naruto winced as he sat straight up and pushed himself against the pillows he was propped up on. "Remind me to thank her next time I see her." This prompted a short laugh from Kakashi. "So, what's with the eye?" "It's not polite to point out a disabled person's shortcomings." "Don't bullshit me Naruto. It insults my intelligence. And my eyesight." "Of course, the Sharingan?" "Saw right through your bandage." "Brilliant." All was quiet for a time until Naruto said "I can't tell you." Kakashi was also silent for a time before saying "I suspected as much." "I'll ask Tsunade about letting a few people know of the mission objective." Naruto stated quickly. "That doesn't matter to me, I'll be present for your debriefing." "Oh?" "I was made ANBU commander in your...absence." "I see." "I still can't tell you anything until then, even if you are the ANBU commander, the mission was given to me by Tsunade." "Of course."

_He's changed._ Kakashi thought worriedly. _Not just that...eye.. of his. It's his demeanor. He seems like he has a purpose now. The Naruto I knew was happy just drifting from place to place. Now..._

Knowing Naruto couldn't see him with his one good eye facing away, Kakashi shook his head slightly.

_Nothing good is going to come of this, I can already see that much_

end of part 2


	3. Anticipation

Authors Note: Okay, I have finally decided on an upload pattern. It'll be daily. Ish. It may not happen on regular times, but Monday through Thursday I will upload 1,500ish word chapters on a daily basis. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays will be days when I frontload a ton of chapters that I'll upload throughout the week. As always, positive and constructive feedback is appreciated immensely, thanks for reading!

I only own the content of this story. I take no credit for any of the source anime/manga/stuff I borrowed from

In the Eye of a God chapter 3

"Anticipation"

Three days had passed since Naruto's conversation with Kakashi in the apartment. Today was the day he was to give Tsunade his full account of his mission. The day he'd promised his friends answers. Truth be told, he felt relieved, instead of nervous. Not only was he going to get the story, and the eye, off his chest, he was confident that his friends would accept his predicament and help him through it.

Sasuke wasn't feeling as great. Not at all.

Sasuke was...for lack of a better word, scared.

*Flashback to two days ago*

"Why do you think he wants us to leave the bandage on?" He and Sakura were in their occupied bedroom, looking down on Naruto's sleeping form. Sakura was frowning slightly as she looked down at her sleeping teammate. "I don't know." Sasuke had replied. "Maybe there's an unsightly scar he doesn't want us to see?" Sakura shook her head without hesitation. "No, that's not it. Even if it was possible for Naruto to scar, he's not that shallow. It's something else." Sasuke returned his attention to Naruto, his mind running through possible scenarios. The pair stood there in silence for a period of time as they thought about the situation. "I'm taking it off." Sakura's voice, after the prolonged silence, made Sasuke jump. Then he realized what she had said. "What?!" Sakura walked over to Naruto's head and began to unwrap the bandage. "Sakura, he asked us not to!" "He should have known I'd be obligated to take it off. What if he's disguising a wound and it's getting infected?" Sasuke opened his mouth to argue, then thought better of it. She was right. Naruto's privacy came second to his health. _Oh well. It can't be that serious._

As Sakura continued to unwrap the bandage, revealing skin on Naruto's face, she noticed what looked like... "Are these...sealing glyphs Sasuke?" Sasuke, who had since sat down in a chair on Naruto's left, leaned forward, and registered, with a small shock, that there were indeed dozens of tiny sealing glyphs inked into the small part of skin above Naruto's right eyebrow. Troubled, Sasuke confirmed, "Y-yeah." Sakura noticed the shake in Sasuke's voice. Visibly showing her concern, Sakura muttered "Where did he learn sealing jutsu?" "Anbu maybe?" Sasuke replied. Sakura continued to unwrap the bandage. The tension in the room became so thick, Sasuke wondered if he could cut it with Kusanagi, which was hanging on the wall behind him. As more of Naruto's face was revealed, the more hopelessly complicated the seal became. Thousands of glyphs were inked in indescribably tiny handwriting neither of them thought Naruto was capable of. They ran all over his face, wherever the bandage had covered.

A good chunk of the seal was hidden by his hair. Still his right eye remained covered by the bandage. With shaking hands, Sakura undid the last loop around Naruto's head. His eyelid was marked with a spiral that looked remarkably similar to the seal on his stomach, though the overall jutsu on his head was infinitely more complicated. The pair looked over Naruto's face, trying to discern the purpose and function of the seal. Complicating manners was the tiny font, so small they had trouble reading it. Making things even more difficult was the fact that a large portion of the glyphs they could make out, were completely foreign to both of them, even with Sasuke's extensive training in seals under Orochimaru. Sakura helped study the seal with Sasuke for an additional twenty-odd minutes, then when it became clear that her knowledge in seals was deficient, she went into the kitchen to make some lunch. After nearly another half an hour of pouring over his friends face, Sasuke noticed a small cluster of glyphs partially hidden under Naruto's right eyebrow that jogged a memory of time spent in Orochimaru's library. _No way...He can't have... That's a kage level sealing technique, when did he..._ Using the glyphs he'd discovered, Sasuke was able to establish context for some other glyphs whose purpose was unknown. As he translated the last of the glyphs, something clicked in his head. He had a piece of the puzzle.

"Sakura." "Yes Sasuke?" Her voice carried from the kitchen through the spacious apartment. "Could you come here in a moment?" "Sure, hold on." Sasuke heard the clattering of dishes, then footsteps as Sakura entered the room. "Find anything?" "Yeah. Do you see these glyphs here?" Sasuke pointed to the cluster under Naruto's eyebrow. "Yeah, but I don't recognize them." "I do." "Oh?" "I studied this branch of sealing when I was...a-away..." Sakura's face hardened slightly. "Go on." Sasuke shifted slightly, uncomfortable. He knew she didn't like mentioning his time spent as a missing nin. He didn't like it either. "Anyway, those glyphs combined with these glyphs here and here," He gestured to similar patches under Naruto's hairline and chin, "indicate the presence of a technique I've only read about. Even the pedosnake couldn't manage the dexterity, or the chakra, required to complete it." "What was it called?" "Honestly, Naruto has to have seen the irony in using this technique, as it was developed by an Uzumaki. Anyway, it's called the Perfect Failsafe." Sakura's eyebrows knit slightly. "What does it do?" "Essentially, it was a seal only a genius could have developed. It was designed to link every chakra containing cell to the seal the user wanted to create. The other clusters I pointed out indicate that Naruto completely understood the implications of that." "Sasuke, you never dance around answers like this. Get to the point." "Naruto has made the undoing of this seal only completable under one condition. The person who undoes the seal must have his chakra signature, and be touching the seal. If anyone else tries to undo the seal, he's rigged his entire chakra network condense into his right eye." Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what Sasuke was getting at. "So you're saying-" "That if anyone other than him tries to begin to undo the seal, all of his chakra, the Kyuubi's included, will become an instant chakra bomb. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." Silence enveloped the room once again.

"You see why it's called the Perfect Failsafe. If you pull the technique off, you can attach however many conditions you want." Sakura had sat down, her hand on her forehead. Sasuke put more determination into his voice. "I'm going to look at him with the Sharingan. See if I can detect whatever he's hiding. I was going to let him have his privacy, but now, this concerns the safety of the village." "You're right Sasuke. This DOES concern the safety of the village. However, it does not yet concern either of you." The pair jumped as Naruto's fury laden voice rose from the bed. "N-Naruto?" exclaimed Sakura. "How long have you been awake?" "Just now. The Kyuubi woke me when he heard Sasuke was going to use the Sharingan." _So that's how_. Thought Sasuke. "Look Naruto, that seal is incredibly dangerous, you jeopardized the very existence of the village by coming here!" "I KNOW!" roared Naruto. The pair jumped again. Naruto had _never _gotten angry so fast before. "I sealed this eye away, and hoped that you guys would respect my decision to keep the bandage on. Failing that, I hoped you'd leave it alone once you saw the complexity of my seal!" Naruto's voice got louder. "But you couldn't trust me could you!? Couldn't think that maybe, maybe I had already thought about the risks and decided that the risks of sealing it any other way would have jeopardized_ much _more than Konoha. I'm talking about the entire Fire Nation!" Naruto's blue eye had turned red and catlike. Sakura shrunk against the wall and Sasuke had put his hand on a spare kunai on the table beside the bed. Naruto noticed both of these actions, and seemed to calm down. His red eye returned to normal. He sighed. "...I have done my best to keep this a secret until the right time. If you really think that I don't understand the situation Sasuke, be my guest. Just do your best to not lose yourself in what you see."

*End flashback*

Sasuke, out of curiosity more than a sense of superiority, had then activated his Sharingan. It was what he had seen that had troubled him. Especially since he still couldn't figure out what he _had _seen. Sasuke mulled over the possibilities for the thousandth time as he walked home from the training field. Hinata would soon let them know when Naruto was ready for them. Maybe they'd finally get the answers to their questions.

*End part 3*


	4. Revelations

Author's Note: Not going to lie, I completely forgot that Kurama could talk. (Quick fact, i've found it immensely amusing to read Kurama's lines in Bane's voice) The interesting bits are going to be a while coming. Sorry everyone! Positive/constructive reviews appreciated, thanks for reading! (Btw Kosuke is Naruto/Hinata's pet fox)  
>In other news, this will be the last day I upload until Monday. Tomorrow and the weekend (unless I can't help myself) I'll just be writing, not posting. Thanks for reading!<p>

I only own this story content, I own none of the original material.

In the Eye of a God Chapter 4

"Revelations"

Naruto sat alone in the living room, having been released from Sakura's apartment on the grounds that he no longer needed immediate treatment. He had given his report to Tsunade after which she had given him permission to tell a select few people about his mission and eye, as well as putting him on probation for two additional weeks, for his body to heal. That long, even with the Kyuubi chakra working overtime. She also gave him permission to practice his more large scale jutsu behind the mountain in which the Hokage monument was engraved. Kosuke snored in the corner. Naruto wondered if using his eye during the fox cloak would give him control over the Kyuubi.

Speak of the devil. _**"What do you plan to tell them, boy? That you now have more power than everyone in this village combined? That you are the third person to possess the most powerful ocular jutsu in all history? Please. They won't believe you, even if they did, they'd fear you."**__ "Been a while since you've talked, fox." __**"Because I'm expending all of my energy healing your beaten ass!"**__ "Aw, are you concerned for my health, Nine-Tails?" __**"Be quiet, child. You know as well as I do that if you die, I die. While you're in this weakened state, there's no stopping anyone from coming for you."**__ "Nobodies going to come for me." __**"Surely you can't be this stupid." **__"What?" __**"You think no one in Amegakure was able to see the battle between you and their kage that levelled half the city? This is an entirely new level of idiocy."**_Naruto didn't respond for a time. He knew the fox was right_. "Even as I am now, it would take several jinchuriki to take me down." __**" You don't know that. You've hardly begun experimenting with the Rinnegan." **__"What about that time on the way back to Konoha, I created a sphere the size of the Hokage tower!" __**"During the battle, Nagato created a sphere the size of several Hokage monuments. That doesn't even come close to comparing to Old Man Six Paths, who used the same jutsu to create the fucking moon." **__"Yeah, but he had the Ten Tails chakra to do it didn't he?" __**"You can't dance around the fact that your control over the Rinnegan is weak. _**It cannot teach you if your focus and control is deficient. **_You must train with it."**__ "Yeah...I will." _Naruto was snapped out of his mindscape when the door opened. Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke entered the living room. Nobody spoke. There was nothing to be said. Everything was on Naruto now. Sasuke was slightly red-faced and sweaty, meaning he'd probably been out training. Sakura also looked especially weary. _Must have been a long day at the hospital._ Hinata came over and sat down next to Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura sat down on the couch opposite them, the mahogany coffee table between them. The silence continued.

Naruto decided to be blunter than originally planned. "My mission was to travel to Amegakure and identify, if not assassinate the killer of Jiraiya the Toad Sage." Sasuke's face remained unchanged. _So...it's a revenge story._ Sakura raised her eyebrow slightly. _This better not be a baka-Sasuke situation. _Hinata stiffened next to him. _Naruto... "_It didn't take much work to find him. His name was Nagato, and he was the self proclaimed 'Amekage.'" The atmosphere changed subtly. "He was possessed of the third doujutsu." Sakura displayed a look of confusion, while Hinata seemed to stir a bit. Sasuke however, who had spent a great deal of his life obsessing over acquiring greater ocular power, narrowed his eyes. _He doesn't mean...how... _Deep in Naruto's mind, he could hear the deep _ruk ruk _sound of the Kyuubi's sarcastic laughter. "Naruto..." Hinata hesitated, "aren't there only two doujutsu?" "No." said Sasuke, surprising everyone but Naruto. Sasuke's eyes never left Naruto's one as he continued to speak. "There was...or is, a third great doujutsu, usually referred to as a myth or genetic mutation, as only one person in history has ever had it." Naruto nodded. "Sakura, Hinata, imagine an eye that didn't just give you new abilities or enhance your current ones, but allowed you to change the very fabric of reality." Sakura's own eyes widened. Hinata's closed as she shivered slightly. Sasuke's face remained unchanged, though Naruto thought he could see sweat not borne of exertion. The tension in the room increased exponentially. "The Rinnegan does all of that, and more." The room suddenly seemed as though it was filled with thin glass that would shatter at the slightest movement.

"I fought Nagato, and won. I nearly died. I don't recall many details of the fight. I'm still trying to sort those out. Much of what happened in that battle crossed the line between dreams and reality. Regardless, the end result was that more of the city was crater rather than buildings." Naruto reached over his head and began to undo his bandage. "After the battle, Nagato lay dying on the ground. His last jutsu was one that consumed his life force in exchange for the lives of the casualties in the city. One of his eyes had been crushed during the battle." Sasuke's mind was racing, Sakura's mouth was open, and Hinata's entire body shook at the thought that Naruto had nearly died. "Nagato told me that I had made a mistake in killing him. He said that with him gone, Ame was sure to perish. He also said that my heart was in the right place, even if my actions weren't. I wasn't convinced. I had done much more than my fair share of the collateral damage to the city. I knew that I had killed many. It didn't matter that they were all alive now, in the aftermath. I still had used jutsu that caused needless death without a second thought." Naruto's bandage was halfway off, with much of the seal on his face revealed. "Nagato told me that I could make up for what I had done that day by taking his Rinnegan, keeping it out of the hands of those few that knew it existed who sought to use it for malicious purposes." The bandage was completely gone now. Naruto closed his unsealed eye. It took the three audience members a minute to realize that Naruto wasn't doing this for dramatic effect. He was channeling chakra. Around three minutes had passed before the three noticed that his seal was gradually disappearing from the outside inward. Slowly, steadily, the glyphs faded away into his skin. Close to ten minutes after he had begun channeling chakra, the last few glyphs and symbols on Naruto's eye had disappeared.

Several things happened in quick succession before Naruto even opened his eyes. Kosuke suddenly woke up, took one look at Naruto, and bolted from the room. The few lights illuminating the house flickered and died. A gust of wind came from nowhere and ruffled everyone's hair. Both the temperature and the pressure dropped significantly. Sakura could feel her ears popping, as did Sasuke and Hinata. Goosebumps ran up everyone's arms, excluding Naruto's, whose temperature always ran at one hundred degrees Fahrenheit regardless of where he was. Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes. In the darkened room, it was easy to see the dim purple glow his right eye emitted. Concentric circles surrounded his pupil. As his eye fully opened, the three shinobi who stared in awe at his eye became aware of a presence in the room. Dimensionless, yet the feeling that the three chunin got was one of being watched by a being with no feeling whatsoever, that radiated cold, deadly purpose.

Hinata became aware of a strange hum coming from Naruto's direction. Sasuke's mouth was open slightly, and his eyes were wide. Sakura had an expression of open shock. Hinata put her hand on Naruto's and leaned on his shoulder. "Naruto.." Hinata's voice shook slightly. "Are you...okay?"**_ "I told you this would happen, boy_."** When Naruto spoke, the three shinobi jumped slightly. His voice was normal, but now there was another voice, underlying his own. It echoed around the room slightly, and sounded like dozens of kunai being dragged against rusty metal. **"I do not know. I haven't used the Rinnegan much outside of testing a few jutsu it taught me."** "You make it sound like it has a mind of it's own." Sasuke's voice was also shaky. **"That's because it does. The Rinnegan isn't merely a tool to be wielded. It is a teacher. Not your friend. Not your enemy."** _So that presence I feel watching me... _Thought Sasuke, troubled. Now Sakura spoke up. She had tears in her eyes. "Naruto, just what can you do now?!" Naruto looked at her for a while before answering. The Rinnegan began to pulse slowly and softly.  
><strong>"Much of what the Rinnegan can teach requires seeing to believe. But in short...The Rinnegan, first and foremost, behaves similar to the Sharingan. It allows me to see chakra, although I suspect it's range is greater. But instead of allowing me to copy jutsu real time, it unlocks that jutsu for me to learn. Absolutely any jutsu. Meaning that I can use all five elements." <strong>Sasuke processed this information, and filed it away for later. Sakura tried not to show her fear and awe. Hinata squeezed Naruto's hand. **"I can also tell when people are lying to me, regardless of their skill. An interesting side effect I've noticed with shadow clones is that not only are they exceptionally durable, able to take an extreme pounding, I share their vision in real time. This limits me to about five or six clones before I become too sick." **He sighed. **"And that's about it for believability." **His face fell visibly. As he closed his eye, Hinata touched his face. As he turned to her, she kissed him. When she withdrew, she said with a firm voice, "I will always stand by you, you know that right?" Naruto smiled a sad smile as he reached for a scroll on the table. Sakura put her hand on his."As will the both of us." Sasuke nodded. Naruto teared up a bit. _Oh no._ Blood streamed down his left eye. "Oh no, that's flared up again." Sakura looked concerned. "It's okay." Naruto said. "It'll give me a psychological edge over my enemies." He smiled slightly. He wiped his cheek and smeared the blood on the scroll. With a poof, the seal appeared again on his eye. The lights flickered back on. The presence everyone felt left. The atmosphere returned to normal."Yeah, because having the most powerful doujutsu in the history of shinobi isn't going to intimidate your enemies one bit." Sasuke's joking, sarcastic tone almost made Naruto cry again. They were giving him the one thing he wanted, without him having to ask. They weren't running from him.

_**"You got lucky with these ones, child." **"I know."_


	5. The Invisible Hand

Authors Note: Hello! First post of the week. Still working on overall plot. Some stuff may still seem unrefined. Thanks for reading!

Copyright Notice: I only own the contents of this series, I own none of the original material

In The Eye of a God, Chapter 5

"The Invisible Hand"

Finally, Naruto's probation was over. He was free to do whatever he pleased. In his off time, that is. Guarded by several top-notch ANBU operatives, Naruto and Kakashi walked through the woods behind the Hokage monument. The rear of the towering stone monument well obscured the village from view, and then some. It was necessary for Naruto's new top priority training. He and Kakashi made small talk on the way up, but eventually grew as silent as the many operatives that guarded them. Finally, after nearly an hour of walking, they reached a large clearing. Ideal for practicing large-scale ninjutsu. "So, Naruto." Kakashi turned to him when they had reached the center of the field. "Can you tell me more about these Six Paths you mentioned?" Naruto nodded. "The Six Paths are the Six primary abilities of the Rinnegan user. The Deva Path that grants control over gravitational forces, the Asura Path which allows the user to summon mechanized armor to freely augment the body as they will it, the Human Path which allows the user to extract desired information by absorbing their soul, the Animal Path which allows the summoning of a variety of controllable creatures. " Naruto paused to take a breath. "the Preta Path which enables the user to absorb chakra in any form as well as reflect jutsu, and the Naraka Path, which allows the summoning of the King of Hell. Then there is the Outer Path, separate from the Six, which allows the summoning of chakra receivers from within the body that the user can then send chakra to." _I don't think I should tell him about Rinne Tensei..._ thought Naruto. Kakashi nodded. He'd understood precisely half of it. He decided to worry about the other half later. "Are you proficient, even mildly, in any of them?" Naruto winced. "Only in the Deva Path, even then, my control and ability is limited compared to Nagato." "Do you know what it takes to be able to improve?" Naruto muttered something to the affirmative, and Kakashi nodded. "Then your first task is to stop me from touching you, or to incapacitate me, using only basic Taijutsu and your Rinnegan abilities." "Understood." Ten minutes later, Naruto's Rinnegan was visible. Outside, he had a different effect on his surroundings. Grass constantly swayed around him, even when there was no wind. Birds ceased chirping. The temperature drop and the pressure drop, Naruto noticed, only seemed to occur in a twenty foot radius.** "I am ready Sensei."**Naruto called to Kakashi, who was standing about two hundred feet away. His voice still sounded like kunai grating over metal. Fast as the lightning that was his trademark, Kakashi sped towards Naruto. For the first time since the road back to Konoha, Naruto used his Deva Path abilities. Gathering chakra in his eye and raising his right hand, Naruto boomed **"Bansho Tenin!"** Suddenly Kakashi's acceleration towards Naruto turned into an uncontrolled spinning and tumbling towards him. Naruto's skin parted on his arm and a black chakra receiver slid out into his hand. Twisting his wrist as Kakashi swirled helplessly towards him, he broke the receiver into a knife-like shape. When the ANBU director was within arms reach, Naruto grabbed his shoulder and slammed him down onto his back. Before Kakashi could do anything, Naruto touched the chakra receiver to his arm. _What!? I can't move!_ Kakashi panicked slightly before Naruto removed the touch of the black rod and helped his Sensei up. Kakashi's eye narrowed. "Again."

Several hours later, Kakashi was breathing heavily, bending over his knees. Despite his large chakra reserves, Naruto was also winded. They had gone through that same drill over and over. And although Naruto hadn't realized it at the time, looking back he saw that every time he used one of the Deva abilities, he'd gotten slightly better at it. _So the more I use one particular jutsu, along with the amount of sheer effort I put in it, the better I get without even realizing it. Interesting._ On the way back, Kakashi questioned Naruto more about the Rinnegan's behaviors. "Is there an order you must learn the Paths in?" "I think so. The only reason I know how to use the Deva abilities there was because I just knew them when I transplanted the eye. I think the Deva Path is the first tier, with the more complicated Paths coming sequentially afterwards. " "Do you know the order?" "...I'm getting the impression from the Rinnegan that the next path will be the Animal Path. I don't know how I'm going to learn to summon those creatures or when, but it's probably whenever the Rinnegan becomes pleased with my progress with Deva." He noticed Kakashi shake himself slightly before he responded. "It's weird, thinking about that eye like a living thing." "You shouldn't." Naruto replied without hesitation. Kakashi raised his eyebrow as they crossed a small stream. "It's a sentient thing, but it isn't alive like you or me. I think of it more like a god than anything else. Timeless, with whims no one can fathom." He chuckled slightly at his own analogy.

They walked in silence for a time, when Kakashi asked "Naruto, you said that you think there's three techniques in the Deva Path, but during that session, I only saw you use two of them." Naruto's face darkened. "The third one wasn't appropriate for a duel of that magnitude." "Can you elaborate?" Naruto was silent for a span. Konoha came into sight as they walked through the forest. "The technique is called 'Chibaku Tensei'. It involves creating a small condensed ball of chakra, much like a Bijuu-dama, but infinitely more dense. Using a combination of the previous two Deva techniques, you maneuver the ball into your desired location. Then you activate the jutsu." "And then?" Naruto was quiet before saying "Have you ever heard the story of how the moon was formed, Sensei?" Naruto could see comprehension dawning on what little he could see of Kakashi's face. "You mean that that technique was used to create the moon?" "By the Rikudou Sennin, yes." "...How big can you make yours?" "On the way back to Konoha, the biggest I could make it was slightly bigger than the Hokage tower. Then my attention wavered and the jutsu collapsed. It requires an immense amount of concentration to keep all the condensed chakra in place, and the further it gets from you, the harder it is." Naruto paused as a deer ran in front of the company of shinobi. "The strength of the technique is dependent on a few things. The first is your proficiency with attraction and repulsion. The second is how disciplined your thoughts are, you need to be very direct in terms of what you want to happen, and your attention can't waver. The third is interdependent on the first two, and it's how much chakra you can force into a confined space." Kakashi was silent for the remainder of the walk home, seemingly content to listen to the sounds of the forest._  
><em>

The sky over Konoha glowed orange with the setting sun as Naruto arrived at their door to find the house was locked. _Hinata's most likely training. It must be hard, catching up after a month of complete apathy._ He found the key under the rock in their backyard, and used that to open the house. As he entered, the fox spoke up. **_"I hope you realize that effort alone will not get you where you need to go." "_**_What is it now, fox?"_ _**"You must increase your brainpower in order to progress anywhere with the Rinnegan. Force alone is impressive, but not**_** enough."** Naruto didn't respond. He stood still in the doorway to the house. _"How would you recommend that I improve?"_ _**"Why don't you ask the Uchih****a**_**_ brat?_"** _"Sasuke?_" _**"Like I care what his name is. He's regarded as a prodigy with ocular jutsu, isn't he?" **"I'm not asking Sasuke for help with something he knows less than nothing about." **"Touchy, today aren't we? Put your pathetic rivalry aside, it's time you grew up." **"It's possible to grow up and still have rivals, ya know." **"You mean like the Youth Fountain Man?"** "..."_ The kyuubi's laughter ricocheted around Naruto's mindscape. _**"That's what I thought." **"I'm not asking for Sasuke's help." **"Quit being so stubborn." **"Make me." _The huge fox sighed. _**"You're worse than your mother sometimes." **"Thank you." **"That wasn't a compliment." **"It's still the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Fox." **"Hmph." **"Do you have anything helpful to suggest?"_ The Kyuubi was silent for a period before responding._ **"...Yes. Learn the Fourth's Teleportation Jutsu." **"What?"_ Within the cage in Naruto's mind, the fox seemed to smile. _**"It'll likely be one of the few jutsu you'll have trouble with now, as it isn't element based and involves a large amount of focus and discipline to execute." **"Where could I find it?" **"Ask your Hokage. Surely the technique is recorded somewhere. I find it highly unlikely that either the Second Hokage or your bastard of a father would let such a technique be forgotten."** "He wasn't a bastard." **"Everything is relative. You of all people should realize that by now."**_The Kyuubi slipped back into the deepest reaches of the seal, where Naruto could hardly feel his presence. He shook his head and became aware of his surroundings again. Judging by the fact the sun had nearly slipped below the horizon, Naruto guessed that he'd been standing there for a fair hour or two. It wasn't the first time that conversations with the Kyuubi took far longer outside his mind than they did inside. Naruto closed the door behind him as he stepped into the house. _Great balls of chakra, I'm tired._ He was so tired in fact, he walked straight past a rather large amount of evidence that a fight had occurred in the house. The stools near the counter were knocked over. A small pool of blood sat on the floor, quivering in time to Naruto's footsteps. He went into the kitchen, where he found a note on the counter, written with cut-and-paste letters from newspapers. His heart pounding, he read the note.

_Meet us in the clearing by the old temple 5 miles east of Konoha at 12 noon tomorrow. Come alone. Don't tell anybody where you are going. We have sensory types with us. Try anything funny, and the bitch gets it._

A mixture of blood and salt soon joined the blood already spattered on the floor.


	6. Cold Fury

Author's Note: Okay, first real combat scene. I don't know how it stands up in relation to other people's writing of combat scenes, but I'm decently proud of it. Let me know if there's anyway I can improve this kind of scene in PMs, reviews, whatever. Thanks for reading!

I only own the contents of this story, I own none of the original material.

In the Eye of a God, Chapter 6  
>"Cold Fury"<p>

Naruto leapt from tree to tree away from Konoha. He'd left a note on the door saying he was going to meditate. He'd followed the ransom notes directions and had come alone. No one knew where he was going. His heart was full of fear for Hinata's safety. _Please let her be okay. Please._ Shaking his head, Naruto tried to master control of his thoughts, to no avail. It took him nearly twenty minutes to reach the temple clearing the note had specified. His internal clock told him he was five minutes early. The temple used to belong to an old jutsu cult, before they'd died out. Now the temple stones were overgrown with moss and trees. Almost as soon as he walked into the large clearing, ten ninja appeared on the other side. They all wore wide brimmed hats that hid their faces, and their clothes consisted of typical jonin gear, with the exception of one tall ninja who was wearing a black cloak and had a sword twice the length of his body slung over his shoulder. One of the subordinates was holding Hinata by the arm. She was gagged, and her legs and arms were bound. She looked bruised and battered, and Naruto thought her arm might be broken, but other than that, she seemed fine. Her eyes met his. Her expression clearly said something along the lines of_ I knew you'd come_. Naruto half-smiled. Unbeknownst to the ninja opposite him, he'd already released the seal on his eye. Before the Rinnegan, Naruto would have undoubtedly charged into the clearing without a second thought, into what was surely a trap. Given the fact that the ninja had appeared right after him, before twelve, that meant they'd been there for a while. Possibly early enough to set traps. His Rinnegan, concealed under the bandage, would allow him to destroy all of the lesser ninja before him for taking his one and only.

"We hoped your feelings would prove your undoing today, Uzumaki." The voice of the ninja in the black cloak carried across the large field. Not bothering to reply, Naruto pointed at Hinata and releasing the chakra he'd built up along the way, shouted **"Bansho Tenin!"** Hinata was ripped out of the grip of her captors, and flew across the clearing to Naruto, where he slowed the jutsu down and caught her. The body language of the ninja indicated disbelief, confusion and shock. Naruto quickly took the gag out of Hinata's mouth. "Naruto, they're Mist village shinobi. They want Konoha out of the picture, and are trying to take out power players first." A chakra receiver slid out of Naruto's arm, which he used to cut her bonds as he replied **"Doesn't surprise me really. Too bad their info is outdated. Did they... hurt you?"** Hinata shook her head as she stood. "They didn't try anything funny last night, don't worry. They were really professional about the entire ordeal, except for the whole 'planning your assault around your captive thing'." _Oh thank Hashirama, she's okay. _Naruto smiled quickly. **"Can you get back to the village on your own from here?" **"Yes, I followed the route we took last night." **"Good. I'll meet you on the road back to Konoha."** Hinata hesitated. "I love you Naruto. Don't die again on me." Naruto longed to be able to kiss her then, but he knew he couldn't divert his attention much longer. **"I love you too Hinata."** As she ran into the forest behind him, Naruto returned his attention to the shocked shinobi. **"Thanks to your cocky planning around my 'bitch', I now know you are all Mist village ninja with plans to subdue Konoha."** His grating voice seemed to deter a few of the shinobi, as some of them took a few steps back. **"The most important part of being a ninja is to be prepared for anything. Especially when you are trying to manipulate someone who came back from the dead."** Naruto undid the bandage on his head, letting it fall to the ground. Revealing his Rinnegan, Naruto felt as though he were an executioner, which he supposed he was, relatively speaking. _**"You are learning how to think, child."**_ Ignoring the Kyuubi, Naruto delivered the death sentence of the shinobi he faced.

**"Unfortunately, no amount of preparation could have saved you in this situation."**

Gathering chakra in his feet, Naruto propelled himself towards the group of shinobi, his speed frightening even himself. With only a few steps, Naruto was halfway across the field. One of the ninja had jumped and was coming down on his back, dual wielding kunai. Two more were likewise flanking him, swords flashing in the midday sun. Time seemed to slow down for Naruto. As the two ninja on his right and left flank swung at his neck, hoping to decapitate him, Naruto ducked with supernatural agility. Grabbing the blade on the left, he disarmed the ninja holding it. Twirling it by the blade, he swung it around his head and lopped off the feet of the ninja coming down on him. He then rolled out of the way of the falling warrior and came up on his knee, closer to the rest of the group. Two more sword arm ninja came at him from the rest. The black cloaked shinobi remained still. With three ninja coming at him with swords at close range and the disarmed one pulling a kunai out, Naruto decided they were a little close for comfort. **"Shinra Tensei!" **An unseen force rippled out of his body and collided with the five ninja close to him. The ninja were thrown away from Naruto like ragdolls more than a hundred feet, and not a single one of them landed on their feet. The two sword wielders acting as reinforcements flipped over backwards as they flew, and landed on their heads, snuffing out their chakra from Naruto's vision. **"Are these the best shinobi you could find? Pitiful." **The black cloak growled with anger. "GO! GO GOGOGOGO GET HIM!" It seemed that, whatever the social structure among shinobi was like in the Mist village, the man's orders carried a lot of weight. The remainder of the ninja panicked and rushed Naruto, screaming all the while. _Three down, six to go. And then I'll interrogate the cloaked one._ As the kunai wielding ninja closed his right rear flank as the remaining sword-nin closed his rear left, the remaining four subordinates charged his front. Naruto waited until they were all within striking distance. Then he jumped.

It was more of a hop, relative to what shinobi are typically capable of, but it still carried Naruto a foot or so over the heads of the ninja assaulting him. He kicked out behind him with his left leg into the face of the kunai wielder, shoving his nose into his brain. Now Naruto was parallel to the ground. Summoning a chakra receiver from his right arm, he cleaved into the head of the rightmost ninja on his front. Blood splattered everyone near to him. His momentum combined with his newfound anchor in the man's head caused Naruto to become perpendicular to the ground, with his head downward. Raising, or lowering, his left arm, Naruto summoned chakra and **"Shinra Tensei!".** The remaining four shinobi were hurled into a nearby stone wall a good hundred feet away, killing one, breaking another's spine and knocking out the last two. Naruto twisted mid air and broke the chakra receiver off in the man's head as he landed on the ground behind him. He then turned his attention to the man in the black cloak with the colossal sword, who he guessed was about fifty feet away. The man whose feet Naruto had removed groaned behind him. **"Please make this easier for everyone involved, and surrender."**

"HOW!?" The cloaked man's voice betrayed his fear and anguish. "HOW IS IT THAT YOU HAVE DONE THIS?!" **"I met a man who was much more human than I."** The cloaked man unsheathed his massive sword, holding it at his side. He seemed determined to acquire at least some information before they fought. Breathing heavy, he asked "When did you get that...eye!?" As if in response, the Rinnegan seemed to glow brighter for a moment before darkening. **"When I came back from the brink of death. Only those who go to extremes can attain power such as this." **"Stop speaking in riddles, demon!" **"I am not the fox." "**I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT THE FOX! YOU BUTCHERED MY COMRADES!" To that, Naruto had no response. The cloaked man tensed. "Let's end this, demon." **"Yes, lets."** The cloaked man dropped his sword and began weaving signs. Slowly, mist appeared out of nowhere and began to cloud Naruto's vision. **"A jutsu to restrict my vision? Childish. Stop playing hide-and-seek, sword user." **The man's voice seemed to echo around the misty clearing. "I am not one to be shamed out of using a village-wide technique, this is where I am strongest, you cannot tell where I come from, there's nothing you can do to stop me fro-" **"SHINRA TENSEI!" **The mist wasn't pushed by the massive amount of force Naruto unleashed from his palm, it evaporated. Naruto stared at the man, who had taken the luxury of walking, it seemed. He was only a few steps toward Naruto, where he had frozen in place. With all the authority of fate itself, Naruto raised his left arm as he summoned a chakra receiver with his right. **"Bansho Tenin!"** The man was yanked toward Naruto, tumbling uncontrollably as he flew. Naruto raised his right arm, and when the Mist ninja was within reach, he plunged the receiver into his shoulder. Blood sprayed out of the wound. Naruto brought the man to a stop. **"You're mine now."** Naruto kicked the man in the skull hard enough to knock him out.

Hinata watched from the trees as Naruto dispatched the Ninja who were still alive. She shivered. Naruto had changed, that much she knew, but she hadn't guessed that he had become so cold-hearted as to kill without expression, as she watched him do now. Naruto piled the men he had killed in the center of the clearing. The man he had stabbed in the shoulder, he put on his back . **"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" **Naruto launched the massive fireball at the men he had dispatched, consuming the bodies in flames. He watched them burn for a while before turning around and walking towards the trees. Hinata started to sweat. The Rinnegan had changed Naruto in more ways than he had let on. When he reached the tree-line, Naruto turned to the spot where Hinata was concealed in the bushes. Putting the man on his shoulder on the ground, Naruto called into the forest. **"I know you're there Hinata. I'm sorry you had to watch that."** Hinata slowly emerged from her hiding place. Naruto's expression was one of sadness and pity. He didn't say anything else immediately, instead electing to remove a scroll from his belt. He bit his thumb and sealed his eye away. His voice normal now, he said "I can tell that you thought that was murder. You're right. It's only a killing if the parties involved are on level footing." His unsealed eye began to stream with blood. Hinata walked towards Naruto, and put her unbroken right arm around him, her left dangling at her side. "I know that you did what you had to protect me, and by extension, the village. The only way that scene would have changed my feelings for you would be if your actions were unjustified." Naruto's eye continued to stream blood. He gently put his arms around his fiancee's shoulders. "I'm glad you realize that." "I still stand by you Naruto. I always will." Naruto hiccuped slightly as Hinata rest her head on his chest. "Come on. Let's go get me patched up."**  
><strong>


	7. Minor Differences

AN: So I've decided that when the series is finished, I'm going to go through it and do a rewrite. It probably won't change any major plot points unless I'm really not liking them. The rewrites will be more detailed, I'll flesh out some characters more, throw in new ones. So now my goal is to get everything down in writing, and then I'll make it good. It'll be good fun. That's all for the moment. Thanks for reading!

I don't own Naruto it any manga I've borrowed from.

In the Eye of a God, Chapter 7

"Minor Differences"

Naruto woke up that night for the third time straight. He was sweating. The moon was full and shone through their window, illuminating Hinata in their bed. Naruto got out of bed, wearing nothing but his sweatpants. He went into the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. It had been six days since the Mist ninja hostage situation. Six days since the men he had murdered began haunting his dreams, destroying his psyche. **_"You must move on from these killings, boy. You did what you had to to protect your vixen. Your actions were justified." _**_"First time you've ever shown concern about the contents of my thoughts, fox."_ **_"..."_** _"Continue with your speech. I've never known you to speak without reason."_ The Fox didn't reply, and in fact sunk deeper into Naruto's mindscape. _"Be like that then."_ Naruto reached into the cabinet over the sink and grabbed a few sleeping pills. After taking some and putting the container back into the cabinet, he returned to their bed. Taking care not to wake Hinata, Naruto stared at the ceiling, waiting for the pills to work their magic on him.

As he slowly drifted off to sleep, he reflected on the news Hinata had brought to light to the Hokage. According to the men she overheard, the Mist village and the Rock village were joined in an alliance of some kind. Whatever the specifics, the objective of the Mist was clear. To weaken Konoha by taking out powerhouse ninja such as Naruto. Judging by their language, Hinata thought that there might be several squads that were targeting different ninja in Konoha. Tsunade had then asked Kakashi, who was watching from the corner, to place hidden ANBU squads around several ninja that could be targets. Sasuke, Kakashi himself, Tsunade, Naruto, Neji, Gai, along with a few others Naruto hadn't been listening to. He knew that even as he lay there, there were several of ANBU's best operatives stationed around the house to protect him and Hinata. Naruto thought that Tsunade had understood that the ANBU were simply a formality, there to deter any potential threats that happened to detect them. Naruto was perfectly capable of defending himself. The cloaked man he had brought back had turned out to be a high ranked shinobi noble of the Mist village. Ramel or something. The interrogation corps of ANBU was still trying to crack him, as far as Naruto knew. Gradually, sleep overtook him and he drifted back into his nightmares.

The next morning had Naruto heading out to the mountain with Kakashi. It was still early in the morning. The fog had yet to burn off and the sun was still hiding behind a ridge in the distance. The two had almost reached the edge of the village when Sasuke appeared from an alleyway and fell in step next to Naruto and Kakashi. "Sasuke, you know this is a private training session, correct?" Kakashi drawled as they walked. Ignoring Kakashi, Sasuke smiled as he walked with the pair. "Finally I figured out when and where you guys have been leaving. I'm anxious to spar with you again, Naruto." "Unfortunately Sasuke, today isn't a sparring day." Sasuke looked over at Naruto, confused. "Then why do you have Kakashi and them going with you?" Sasuke gestured to the ANBU that were waiting at the agreed spot outside the village. "Because I need them to watch my back while I train. Kakashi's just here in the event that I want to learn a few new jutsu." "Wait, so Kakashi's not training you?" Sasuke was extremely confused. "Nope, I'm just here to supervise and report his progress to the Hokage." "So how is Naruto getting anywhere with..." Sasuke looked around the empty street before continuing. "..the Rinnegan?" "It's difficult to explain. The...eye doesn't require me to learn from anybody. You learn its powers by instinct. It's like the Sharingan in that respect." "I see." Sasuke and Naruto continued to banter the whole way up and behind the mountain. As they arrived at Naruto's practice clearing, he called to the ANBU. "Could you guys set up the punching bag while I release this seal?" "Of course." The ANBU dispersed into a circle in the clearing that covered most of the area. Naruto sat down and took his new bandage off as he began to channel the required chakra to release the seal. "Naruto, what do you mean by punching bag? Surely we're past the Academy days of needing to hit a stationary target?" "We are Sasuke." Kakashi's voice drifted from a tree he was sitting on. "Naruto's just affectionately named the mountain he trains on a punching bag because that's what it is to him now." "A-a mountain!? What the hell?" Sasuke's voice resounded with confusion and interest as he turned to Naruto. The sun began to peek out from the ridge to the east of the valley. Kakashi sighed. "You'll understand in a while, Sasuke."

Not long after, Naruto had completed the seal and his Rinnegan was visible, accompanied by the expected drop in pressure and temperature along with the silencing of the animals nearby. As he stood, the ANBU shouted in unison. "Earth Style, Mountain Creation Jutsu!" With a rumble and grinding sound, a large mountain several hundred feet high arose from the ground. The Hokage monument still was twice the size of it. **"Thanks guys, that should be good! You can all back off now!"** Naruto called to the ANBU who had summoned the mountain. His speech contrasted with the way his voice sounded like an ancient being from a time forgotten. Sasuke shifted. He'd never get used to it. **"You two should also clear the area. I'm going to use _that_ jutsu."** "I see. I'm guessing this means a short session today?" **"Unfortunately, yes."** Kakashi sighed as he stood up and walked up a path leading to the top of the Hokage monument. "Come on Sasuke, Naruto's show is about to begin." Still bewildered at the magnitude of what was happening, Sasuke half walked, half stumbled after Kakashi. As they left his range of vision, Naruto walked into the clearing and kneeled on his right leg. _"Fox, I'm going to need to borrow your chakra for this one"_ **_"Do I have a choice?"_** _"No, but it's always polite to let someone know before you take something."_ The fox snorted in Naruto's mindscape. **_"Condescending douchebag."_** Naruto closed his eyes and began to channel his chakra into his hands.

Up on the mountain, Sasuke watched Naruto kneeling, anticipation building in his body. "Sasuke, sit down. Naruto's shown me this jutsu once before. It takes a good amount of time to charge up the needed chakra." "Just what is this jutsu that needs a mountain to work?" "It doesn't need a mountain. Naruto's just using one so he doesn't permanently scar the landscape." "Not answering my question." Kakashi sighed his trademark sigh. "He calls the jutsu 'Chibaku Tensei' and the jutsu is multi staged. First Naruto channels an amount of chakra so incredibly dense, the fox cloak looks like a joke next to it. Then, using his proficiency in attractive and repulsive forces" at this, Sasuke's eyes widened "he maneuvers the ball into the air above the area he wants to destroy. Then he lets the density of the ball do it's work." Sasuke turned back to Naruto's kneeling form. "I recommend activating your Sharingan, if you really want a show." Directing chakra to his eyes, Sasuke did as Kakashi suggested. He jumped. Kakashi chuckled. "Told you it was unbelievable."

Naruto had since opened his eyes, and was staring with intensity at the small black ball he was creating in his hands. It was hardly the size of a marble, yet it contained chakra equal to that of fifty jonin rank ninja. Naruto knew that the slightest dip in concentration here would result in his instantaneous death. Minutes passed as hours to Naruto during that time. When he couldn't pack anymore chakra into the space, Naruto slowly stood and parted his arms. The ball floated away from him, gliding slowly up the mountain the ANBU had created.

Sasuke watched the ball glide up the mountain with fear, awe, envy, and fascination all as one emotion. _There's so much chakra, in that one space...If that ball were to be triggered, it would certainly destroy the Leaf Village, and then some._ He glanced at Kakashi, who also had activated his Sharingan. His face appeared impassive. The ANBU around them were wearing masks, thus concealing their reactions. Sasuke turned his attention back to the chakra ball. _Such control, and over such a distance too! It's a miracle he's able to control that much chakra, much less cause it to float up several hundred feet away from him!" _His mind suddenly put together the pieces of what the jutsu entailed. _He's using one so he doesn't permanently scar the landscape. Mind bogglingly dense chakra. A mountain._ His awe increased, along with his already present sense of doom.

The ball was in place. Naruto was breathing heavily. This was the most compact he'd ever been able to make the jutsu. Now he just had to maintain focus. Clapping his hands together and entwining his fingers, Naruto boomed in his scraping voice **"CHIBAKU TENSEI!"**

There was a resounding crack through the morning silence. Sasuke perked up, alerted. He stared at the mountain and his eyes widened. _I was right._ Rocks on the mountain were slowly floating up to the top. The peak of the mountain was crumbling in reverse, the pieces ascending upwards towards the immensely dense chakra. The pieces grounded themselves to the ball, increasing the size of the sphere as more and more bits of earth joined the jutsu. After a few seconds, large boulders started rising along with the small rocks. The group on the mountain became aware of what sounded like Naruto's voice growling through the cracks and rumbles of the floating rock. Sasuke's mind stopped working. All he could do was watch his rivalry with his best friend crumble before his very eyes.

Naruto's Rinnegan pupil dilated. Letting loose an animal cry, he ground his jaw as he pushed himself further than he'd ever pushed before. The mountain itself became affected by the jutsu, the huge monolith breaking into small pieces as it floated upward to join the increasingly larger ball in the sky. His nose began to bleed. The progress of the rocks faltered briefly as his mind darted towards Sasuke on the ridge. Remastering control of his thoughts, Naruto gave the jutsu one final push before leveling his chakra flow to maintain the jutsu. He fell to the ground, unable to stand up. He bent his neck and looked up to see what he had achieved. He was pleased to see that the ball he had created this time around was several times larger than the last time he tried. Most of the original mountain was gone, the jutsu was around six hundred feet in diameter. Naruto maintained control over the ball a moment longer to admire his achievement, then let the jutsu go. The ball fell to the ground, slowly, due to it's sheer size. Naruto gradually broke the fall of the ball as it hit the ground so that it wouldn't cause a large amount of noise. A wave of dust and rubble flew up from the spot where the massive ball had landed, blinding Naruto. Releasing his hold on the chakra ever so slightly, like letting air out of a balloon, Naruto dispelled the jutsu in such a way that instant fiery death did not occur. _**"You have...*puff*...certainly *puff* improved** ***puff*...boy"** __"It's still tiny...compared...to..Nagato. But...yeah, I've...improved. _Naruto's thoughts slowed as he lowered himself to the ground. Closing his eyes, he wondered mildly what standard the Rinnegan would hold him to before teaching him something new. Then his consciousness slipped into dreams of gods entering the realm of man and meddling with the affairs of mortals.


	8. Whims of the Unseen

AN: another chapter out, yay! Things are going to pick up a bit. It'll be awesome. Since I've decided to do a rewrite of the series when it's finished, you may notice I'm pointedly not correcting some annoying inaccuracies or inconsistencies, and that's because I want to be able to kind of link everything I correct together in a nice indecipherable way. Thats the way I'm working. (shhhhhh I know it doesn't really make sense) thanks for reading!

i don't own naruto, or any published work other than my own.

In The Eye of a God, Chapter 8

"Whims of the Unseen"

Naruto awoke in the hospital. He sat up and looked around. His chunin gear and scroll were on the table next to the hospital bed. It was a few hours after noon, judging by the sun. Naruto noticed that although someone had replaced the bandage on his eye, they had neglected to seal it. He picked up the sealing scroll from his bedside table, bit his thumb and sealed his eye again. He wondered if this was still the same day as the training session with Kakashi, or if he'd been asleep for many days. Just when Naruto thought he'd go back to sleep, the door opened, revealing Sasuke and Hinata. Hinata ran into the room and hugged Naruto. Sasuke maintained his calm demeanor as he sat down in one of the hospital chairs. Hinata retracted her embrace and sat in a chair next to Naruto, saying "I was so worried about you!" Naruto laughed as he replied with "Hinata, given my penchant for hospitalizing myself through over exertion, it's a wonder you still have the capacity to be worried!" Sasuke smiled dryly. "Anybody ever tell you that you need to lose weight, dobe?" "Eh!?" "Your heavy carcass slowed everyone down on the way back." "You'll be a carcass if you don't shut your mouth, teme!" Hinata laughed. "Boys, boys, calm down, Sakura's already overbooked!" "Damn right I am." Sakura shambled into the room and flopped down into the chair that Sasuke had quickly evacuated. "UUghh, thanks Sasuke." Sakura's head slumped backwards. "Why are so many people hospitalizing themselves?!" She lifted her head slightly to glare at Naruto. "I bet this is your fault somehow." Laughter echoed around the room as the sun glared down on the village.

Later that night, Naruto and Hinata were walking home from dinner with Sasuke and Sakura. "That was nice." "Yeah, we should have them over soon. Can't let Sasuke think we need help or anything." Hinata giggled slightly. The half-moon shone brightly over the village. "Naruto?" "Hm?" "Now that we're away from everybody, are you able to tell me why you were in the hospital again so soon?" Naruto sighed. "To put it plainly, I tried to create the moon, and failed." Hinata smiled. "Creating the moon? Good luck Mr. Rikudou Sennin!" "Hey, comparing me to Old Man Six Paths actually means something Hinata! I already have an inferiority complex about that without your teasing!" Naruto was smiling the whole time. "I'm getting better though. Attracting and repulsing isn't as difficult as it used to be." Hinata smiled shyly. "You never had much trouble with attracting in the first place." Naruto kissed the top of her head. "Fortunately, you're the only person who isn't immune to it." The pair walked the long way home, through the park that Tsunade had dedicated to the Third Hokage, illuminated by the fickle moon above them.

Naruto's dreams were less than agreeable. He opened his eyes to reveal a clearing in front of a large cave. The grassy clearing was surrounded by dense trees and, most unusually, there were six stone statues stationed around the clearing. The statues were all different except for the fact that someone had given them all full body black cloaks. As Naruto scanned the statues, he noticed that one of them was different from the others. It had the Rinnegan in it's eyes, and the purple orbs seemed to follow Naruto as he walked around the clearing. The statue with the Rinnegan had four arms. Two of them were clasped together in front of the statue, and the other two were stretched out in front, hands splayed. The cave itself seemed to hum slightly, and pulled at Naruto in a way that was less than physical, but more than insubstantial. Naruto began to walk toward the cave, but hadn't gone far when a voice called to him. _**"You Show Potential, Young One. You Achieved An Acceptable Amount Of Control Over Deva Much Faster Than The Previous Host."**_The voice echoed from within the cave, and Naruto recoiled slightly, for it was the one that accompanied his when he used the Rinnegan. Like kunai over metal, the voice continued. _**"Events In Your World Have Accelerated. I Will Teach To You Now The Power Of The Animal** **Path."**_Finding his voice, Naruto asked the cave all the questions swirling around in his head. "Who are you? Where is this? Why does that statue have the Rinnegan, and what do you mean you'll teach me the Animal Path?" The voice seemed to laugh slightly before answering. _**"All Will Be Revealed In Time. For Now, It Is Enough For You To Know That I Am Your Guide For The Duration, And This Place Is _**Hidden **_Somewhere Deep In Your Mind And Soul. As For That Statue, It Is A Measure Of Your Progress."**_Naruto was still vastly confused, but he somehow knew that to pressure the voice for answers would be a mistake. **_"Good. Deva Has Taught You To Master Your Thoughts Well."_**"I guess he has." _**"I Shall Now Give You The Abilities Of Animal. I Look Forward To Seeing Your**** Progress." **_An orb flew out of the cave towards Naruto, flashing all different colors at a rapid speed. Before Naruto could do anything, the orb had entered his body. Naruto stumbled, fell down and -

Naruto's eyes flashed open and he bolted upright in his bed, gasping for air. He realized that the seal on his eye had been somehow broken during his sleep. Groping in the darkness, Naruto found the sealing scroll that he now kept near him at all times. Biting his thumb and wiping it on the scroll, Naruto sealed the eye away again. _**"What happened, youngling? Your mind was unusually still tonight."**_Still fighting for air, Naruto wondered at the Fox's statement. "_You didn't see what happened?" **"Nothing was happening in your mind boy. It was like your being had faded into an alternate realm while you**_ _**slept."**__"Strange... I think I met the Rinnegan." **"What did you say?"**_Naruto recounted the events of his dream to the giant fox sealed within him. _**"This is...troubling, to say the least. And you say that one of the statues had the Rinnegan?"** __"Yes." **"I don't like this one bit. The Old Man never talked about any kind of intelligent being or clearing present in his mind along with the Rinnegan. Yours may be somehow corrupted, given that it isn't actually yours." **"I'm really hoping you're wrong." _Naruto was surprised when the Fox responded faintly with _**"Me too youngling...Me too..."**_

Naruto wasn't the only one losing sleep over the Rinnegan. Sasuke lay awake in bed with Sakura, facing the ceiling. "Sakura, do you think Naruto still wants to be Hokage?" "Sasuke, is this really the time? Of course he does. It's been his life goal since he was a toddler." "You don't think he's maybe transcended that? You heard what I told you about this morning right?" Sakura audibly yawned. "To be honest Sasuke, I think Naruto would pursue the title no matter what kind of power he had." "Do you really? Because the Naruto I knew would never have killed unless the life of someone he loved was in active danger. Then last week happened..." No response. "Sakura?" Regular breathing noises told Sasuke that she had fallen asleep, leaving him to confront his wonders and fears alone in the night.

Tsunade too was unable to sleep that night. Kakashi's report had troubled her too much to afford the luxury of sleep. Naruto had created a rock that could have easily wiped out the village if used against them. The Rinnegan was turning out to be much more trouble than she had foreseen. She briefly wondered if she should ask Naruto to remove the eye from his socket, that they might destroy it. _No. It presents too much potential to destroy. Especially if what Kakashi says is true, that Naruto is only on the first of six paths. _Rolling over in her bed, Tsunade pushed aside the Rinnegan temporarily to think about the intel regarding the Mist and the Rock. _We need an ambassador to Suna. We may need them sooner rather than later._


	9. Flashes

AN: Thursday! Final upload before I frontline my writing for three days. This chapter, it is important to note, essentially determined the plot of the rest of the story a bit. As such, it's subject to bring COMPLETELY REWRITTEN. Also I haven't been able to edit much this week, so this may be rather low quality. Will be minority edited over weekend. In other news, we hit 1000 visitors yesterday! Woo!

Copyright bollocks: I don't own Naruto or any story I have borrowed from.

In the Eye of a God, Chapter 9  
>"Flashes"<p>

Only a few days after the clearing dream, Naruto was in the library, still on recovery from chakra exhaustion. Since the Rinnegan, whenever he had free time alone, he was in the library, soaking up ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques like a sponge. This was different however. For once, Naruto wasn't there for passive absorption of jutsu. He was looking for one in particular. The Hiraishin. Originally part of the Second Hokage's arsenal, Minato Namikaze had adapted the complicated technique for his own use, and it was records of that adaptation that Naruto was looking for. After hours of plodding through countless authors who might have written something about the technique, Naruto held a book written by someone who was an absolute fanboy for the Second Hokage. As Naruto read through the jutsu theory, the more hopelessly confused he became. "_Oi! Fox!" **"Hn?" **"You said this was a complicated jutsu, but this'll take me several years at best to master!" **"I did indeed say that it was a complicated jutsu. It appears that complicated to you means something vastly different from what I think it means." **"Teme-Fox! I can't back away from this now! That's giving up! You've gotten me entangled in a multi year project!" **"Then I guess your life sucks."**_Naruto growled under his breath. _"Just because I haven't used this eye on you to make you submit to my will doesn't mean I can't, or won't!" **"Even if genjutsu was your thing, which we both know it isn't, you'd have a hell of a time grappling with your own morality. Subjugation isn't your thing." **"Is it subjugation if it happens to a demon?"** "Fortunately, yes." **"Damn fox." **"Yes, I'm a bit of a foxy bastard aren't I?" **"Since when do you make puns?" **"Since I overheard some Academy students torturing their Sensei with the practice in the hospital. I find them to be exceptionally amusing." **"What, the Academy students or the puns?" **"Both. I now have a rather large collection, and I'm adding allllll the time." **"You're going to use those to make my life hell, aren't you?" **"You know it. I guess it's your PUN-isment for being such a boring jinchuuriki." **"Oh Kami. It begins." _Naruto's frustration combined with the Kyuubi's new favorite pastime made it impossible to concentrate on the complicated jutsu. _**"Is your I-Q not I-ENOUGH for this jutsu?" **"Stop. Please. These aren't even good puns. That last one would have made Stone-Face McSasuke cry." _The Kyuubi's laughter echoed mockingly around Naruto's head. _**"You see, I'm no longer sealed in this body with you. YOU'RE sealed in this body WITH ME."**__"Please stop. Just let the headache leave long enough for me to check out this book."_ _  
><em>

Several minutes and an unfortunately large number of puns later, ("_**What is Madara Uchiha's justice code? An eye for an**_** eye." "**_JUST KILL ME ALREADY.") _Naruto arrived back home. As he opened the door, he noticed that there was a smell in the air that faintly reminded him of something he'd smelled in a town market on the way to Amegakure. It was meaty and had a sort of tomato sour taste to it. "Hinata? I'm back!" Naruto raised his voice so that anyone in the kitchen or upstairs would hear. "Oh, hey Naruto!" Hinata's voice carried through the house as Naruto walked through the hall into the kitchen. "You're just in time, I'm making noodles with a little sauce I inven- are you okay?" Naruto had crumpled to the ground, crying blood a bit. "Naruto?!" "Hinata, the Fox has been making puns since I left the library. Help me find something to kill myself with." _**"Be careful checking the floorboards for spare kunai, Uzumaki, you might find a-roach-imaru!"**_Hinata did her best to not break down laughing at the thought of the gigantic fox making puns at Naruto's expense. "I'm so sorry!" She reached down and helped Naruto stand. "The puns Hinata, they're so BAD." "Why don't you have a go at him as well?" "Wha-?" "Start a pun war or something. Make the Kyuubi cry with words! Make him the CRYUUBABY!" She giggled slightly. **_"Yes, brat, let's DANCE." _**_"If we're dancing, it's a good thing that Uzumaki are the best dancers, they SPIRAL all around the dance floor." **"Almost acceptable. As a reward, I shall let you have a few hours respite to think up some amusing puns." **"Kill me. Please."_ "Okay. He's stopped for a while. Hinata, you have to help me think of some good ones over dinner!" Hinata threw her head back as she laughed. "Okay smart guy, I'll give you a hand."

They had a grand time discussing puns and their overall merits and cons over dinner. Afterward Naruto engaged in a battle of the mind with the Kyuubi, which reduced Hinata to tears, because Naruto told her the Kyuubi's puns in a stupid accent, which only served to enrage the fox. (_**"My voice is nothing like that in the real world!" **"Since no one has heard your real life accent for twenty five odd years, you're dealing with this one."_ _**"Bastard."**_) Before they went to bed, Naruto took one final jab at the fox. "_Well that was fun, but, in all seriousness RinNEVERagain!" **"Ouch. You've made your**** point."**_ "_Hehe, teme-Fox."_

As Naruto and Hinata settled in for the night, the Kyuubi called to Naruto one more time. _**"Oi. Naruto." **"Hm?"_ _**"My name is Kurama."**_Naruto smiled slightly as he drifted off to sleep. _**"**Nice to meet you, Kurama." "**G'night, kid."**_

The best thing that Naruto could have said about his dreams that night, was that they were pun free. He'd opened his eyes to see that he was falling down what looked like a human esophagus. Naruto was strangely unaffected by this for the longest time. Then the faces started appearing. They'd force their way through the walls of the giant esophagus, somehow giving Naruto very clear vision of their faces despite the fact that he was falling down an endless esophagus at a million miles an hour. At first, Naruto didn't recognize them, but almost instantly he realized that they were the faces of the men he had slain. The faces then started whispering, but gradually getting louder, until Naruto could tell that they were telling him about families they had, friends to see, children to look forward to, dreams they chased before he'd cruelly ended their lives without a second thought. Not all of them he recognized by face, but he assumed that perhaps some of the citizens he'd killed during the battle of Amegakure hadn't come back, or had died in Naruto's fight to escape the city. Soon the faces were shouting. Then screaming. Naruto screamed with them, throwing apology after apology until his voice was hoarse. Then the esophagus abruptly ended and he woke up sweating.

He decided to go find Kakashi.

Pulling on a white robe adorned with flames that Hinata had bought him a few days ago, along with a black shirt and orange pants, Naruto wrote a quick note telling Hinata where he'd gone if she woke. Quietly, he left the house and made his way over to the apartment that was always occupied by the current ANBU director. He knocked once. Kakashi never slept for more than three hours a night, Naruto knew that for a fact. He'd be awake, doing paperwork or pushups on his pinky or something ridiculous. Not even twenty seconds after Naruto knocked, Kakashi appeared in full shinobi dress. "Naruto? Something wrong?" "Can I come in for a minute?" "Sure. I was just doing paperwork." Naruto walked into the surprisingly bare apartment. It wasn't any bigger than his own living room, and was empty except for a twin bed, a bedside table with a copy of Icha Icha supporting a photo on it, and a desk with some documents on it. Looking closer at the photo, Naruto saw that it was Kakashi's genin team photo. His dad looked to be in his prime, no older than twenty-five. Both of Kakashi's eyes were visible, and he was with a boy Naruto recognized as Obito, and a girl he'd never seen before. "So what's up Naruto?" "Do you ever...see their faces? Of the people you've killed?" Kakashi sighed.


	10. The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Test

AN: Tenth chapter, woo! I cannot remember if I've already said this, but I'm going to fix major formatting issues in the rewrite. Small things like line spacing I'll probably do next week or over the weekend. Idk. Thanks for reading! Drop a review or a PM if you feel so inclined.

Also, sorry for the late chapter! I wasn't able to get much done this weekend, I was spending time brainstorming how this and the next few bits would go. I have a basic idea, and I'm pretty much just going to flesh it out as I go. As always, everything is subject to change in the rewrite.

EDIT: My gods. Rereading through the whole thing now, all I can think of is THE PLOT INACCURACIES ARE STRONG IN THIS ONE. Again. Rewrite shall fix all problems. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Copyright Info: I do not own Naruto or NHC or any other manga/doujin/videogame/social media/brain/copyright notice I seem to have borrowed from.

In the Eye of a God, Chapter 10

"The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Test"

Kakashi was silent for a time, contemplating his answer. "I did. I had my first kill when I was younger than you. It traumatized me for months." Naruto looked over at the photo on Kakashi's desk. "So how did you get over it?" _It must be terrible in your head, Naruto._ "I examined my reasons for killing, and asked myself if those reasons justified my actions." "Thats it?" "Yes. It took awhile for me to harden my heart, but yes." "Is that what I need to do? Harden myself so I am devoid of all but the most basic emotions?" "That's not what I said." "Then what do you mean?" Kakashi grappled with himself over what to say. "I mean that now, whenever I am required to do my duty to protect the village, I do not prohibit myself from killing. As long as bloodlust, uncertainty or panic do not rule my actions, any killings I make in the line of duty are justified." "Thats horrible." "Ask yourself the question, Naruto. Were your actions justified?" Naruto remained silent for a great length of time. As they waited, the sky began to lighten. Kakashi didn't move from his position leaning against the wall. He would let Naruto figure his issues out. It was bound to happen anyway. All shinobi went through Naruto's current phase. "I think...My actions were both selfless and selfish, but I don't know if they justified the murder of nine people." "You mean killing." "No. None of them were capable of touching me. It was murder." "They may not have been a problem for you, but they were part of a conspiracy to attack and weaken Konoha. It was killing." "Hm. Speaking of which, why haven't we declared war on the Mist or the Rock?" "We don't have enough evidence to prove that they were Mist ninja. Tsunade wants more than Hinata's testimony before she makes her move." "I see." "Naruto, trust in your role as a Konoha shinobi. Your actions not only saved Hinata, but also brought to light a possible plot against the village. That should put your mind at ease about killing." "Maybe." Naruto brooded a moment more before standing up to leave. "Thanks Kakashi." "No problem." Naruto walked out the door, and Kakashi sat back down to do his paperwork, much of which concerned what Naruto believed to be murder. To Kakashi, it was a part of the job.

Walking back home in the early morning, Kurama caught Naruto's attention. _**"The Scarecrow appears to be in the right here, youngling." **"Is there a right or a wrong? Or is it just a matter of perspective?" **"Depends on your perspective." **"Cut the shit Kurama. I need to figure this out. If I don't, I may not be able to defend the village if- _when_ the time comes." **"Naruto, what does love mean to you?" **"What?" **"I said, what does-"** "I know what you said, why does it have any importance to this discussion?" **"Answer the question."**_Naruto walked for several minutes before answering. _"I think it means ...'Don't leave me here alone.'" **"If you had not saved Hinata, what would that inaction have constituted?" **_Finally it dawned on Naruto what Kurama was driving at. _"I see." **"No, I don't think you do yet." **_The sun peaked above the valley ridge as Naruto walked into the home he shared with the person who hadn't run from him for his entire life.

Sakura was making bite-sized pancakes in the shape of the Uchiha fan. Sasuke hadn't woken up yet, and she felt like exercising some creativity with breakfast. Flipping the fan-cakes over, she looked out over the large third story window that was centered over the oven. Weeks had passed since Naruto had returned, and based on the passing times that she saw him when they weren't on missions, she was starting to agree with Sasuke. Naruto had definitely changed. Where he used to be more or less a really tall hyperactive toddler, now he was calm, collected, and intelligent in conversation. Where he used to be unable to stop moving, now his movements She had yet to see his Rinnegan abilities for herself, although what Sasuke had told her of the day he'd tagged along with Naruto and Kakashi made her shiver even now. To think that an object large enough to destroy the village had been hiding behind the monument was chilling enough, but that _Naruto _had done it... Shaking off her worries, she carefully pan-tossed the several of the fan-cakes onto a plate. Drizzling some syrup on and adding some diced strawberries, she admired her handiwork. Bringing the plate into the shared bedroom, she resolved to ask Naruto that day if she could tag along for one of his sessions. She felt the need to see what her part-time teammate was capable of.

A series of loud knocks jolted Tsunade from her slumber. "Tsunade-sama! Important news!" Her pillows muffling her voice, she silently swore that if it was anything short of the apocalypse, she'd murder whoever had woken her. "Well? What the shit is it?" "It's regarding the man Naruto brought back! We got through!" Tsunade's eyes widened. Maybe she'd make an exception for this one.

"Explain." Tsunade was in her office with Kakashi and a few of his ANBU subordinates. The subordinate who had woken her responded "We broke through the mind of the man Ramel this morning. Our first findings confirmed what Hyuuga Hinata had already told us. He belonged to a group of Kiri ninja whose objective was to break a few power players of Konoha, in order to weaken the village. There are also hints of a coalition between Kiri and Iwa, so we were able to instantly assume that there are more groups than this one. An assumption that was correct, based on our later findings." "Which were?" The ANBU brought out a map of the valley surrounding Konoha, with several circles drawn in areas close to or on the mountains that made up the valley. "Based on our interrogation results, there are, at the very least, three more camps in which Kiri ninja, possibly with some Iwa, are hiding. We aren't ruling out the possibility that the man had dummy sites memorized in the event of capture, either to intimidate us or to confuse us." Tsunade briefly considered the information. "Are there any locations that are more likely than others to host a camp?" "We believe that there is a strong possibility that there's a camp here." The ANBU pointed to Konoha's largest mountain, Mt. Gama. "And that's based on?" "The Iwa's affinity with stone, Hokage." "We don't know for sure that Iwa's involved." "But there is a strong likelihood." Tsunade sighed. "Kakashi, take ten operatives with you to Mt. Gama, also maybe see if Team Kurenai is available. Their sensory types will prove useful on this mission. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Naruto and Hinata were training in the backyard. The two were sparring with the intent to change each other's fighting style, an idea that Naruto had recently. If they were able to break their habits, they could fluidly change style mid-combat in order to surprise the enemy. Naruto also had a shadow clone hanging upside down from a branch, reading a book on the Hairashin theory. Even with his enhanced intellect, it was bordering on impossible to understand. A great deal of mastering the theory seemed to revolve around accepting a theory called Quantum. One of the major concepts that the author stressed was string theory, which as Naruto was able to decipher, implied that absolutely everything in the world was tied to everything. Or something. Naruto found it massively confusing, and had to ask Kurama on numerous occasions if he knew what context a word had in the book. Suddenly, the three present heard a single knock on their door. The clone closed the book shut and dropped to the ground. "I'll get it." Walking through the home, carefully stepping over a sleeping Kosuke, Clonuto opened the door. "Oh, hey Kakashi. What's up?" "Naruto, you and Hinata up for a mission?" Naruto's face darkened. "Sure. Hold on." The clone dispelled himself, and suddenly Naruto became aware that Kakashi was in front. Startled, he let his guard down for a second and Hinata used the opportunity to land a strike on his jaw, sending him flying. Hinata's eyes widened. "Naruto, are you okay?" Brushing himself off as he laughed, Naruto stood. "I'm fine. Come on, Ero-sensei has a mission." "Wait, both of us?" "He asked if you were ready." "Sure, lets do it!"_**  
><strong>_

Not five minutes later, both Naruto and Hinata were at the door. Hinata had put on her Chunin gear, whereas Naruto had decided to put on his ANBU gear, with his fox mask in his back pocket. "Hinata, gather your team. Naruto, why don't you go see if Sasuke or Sakura are available. Meet me at the east gate when you're done. I'll explain on the way."


	11. Preparation

AN: Chapter Eleven, going strong. Woo!

I'm going to address how I'm envisioning the way seals work in Naruto. Disregarding large differences, I'm treating it much like the ancient language in the Inheritance cycle (Christopher Paolini). You have to be very specific in your phrasing of what you want in order for the seal to work, and it requires different levels of dexterity depending on what signs or glyphs you are using. Seals, therefore, are much like rhetorical arguments. There's the act of sealing, and then theres the conditions and techniques you have to attach to make it secure, that detail the reasons for why a certain someone or group of people can or can't use it, etc. It's the techniques and conditions that require intellectual and physical dexterity to use properly.

In the Eye of a God, Chapter 11

"Preparations"

Team Seven was waiting by the East gate of Konoha, with the exception of Kakashi, who had gone to gather several operatives from his roster. The guards around Sasuke and Naruto had been told to scram. Leaning against the gate, Sasuke sighed. "When did you say Team Eight were going to be here?" "I didn't, I said they were coming." "Sasuke, don't be so impatient, we just got here!" Sasuke sighed again, suddenly reminding both Naruto and Sakura of Shikamaru. The team bantered idly for awhile, what missions they'd done recently, any new jutsu learned. Sasuke thought the most entertaining part of the conversation had been asking Naruto if he and Hinata had set a date, to which Naruto had turned bright red and mumbled something about timing. Finally, Kakashi and his four chosen ANBU subordinates showed up. They had chosen to wear black cloaks, which reminded Naruto uncomfortably of the cloak Nagato had worn when they fought. Shaking the thought off, he examined the operatives Kakashi had chosen. Some of them he recognized as an afterthought, people he'd been on missions with previously, but as he dragged his eye across the group, he saw..."Shikamaru?! When did you become ANBU?" Shikamaru gave them a small smile. "Just finished training last week." _Come to think of it, I haven't seen Shikamaru since I got home. I should be more attentive._ Naruto returned a cocky smile. "Ready to run with the big boys?" "Please. I was a shogi grandmaster when you were in diapers." Unsure of how that mattered, Naruto decided to let it slide. Just as Shikamaru finished greeting Sasuke and Sakura, Team Eight rounded a corner and began to approach the group. "Took you guys long enough." Kakashi didn't raise his voice, but in the quiet of the day, his sarcastic drawl carried across the square. Kurenai, in her full Jounin combat gear, raised an eyebrow. "Sincere apologies, we got lost on the path of life." Kakashi winced. "Point taken." Kiba was riding Akamaru, presumably to make himself look impressive. Given that he was actually shorter sitting on the shinobi hound, his efforts were a bit in vain. "Haven't seen you guys in awhile!" Despite the midday sun, Shino was wearing a trench coat and a hood. "Greetings." Naruto couldn't understand how he dealt with the heat. Kakashi looked around at the team. "Shall we get going then? I'll explain as we go."

Speeding through the trees, the group processed the information Kakashi had just fed them. The ANBU, Naruto included, had since put their masks on. "So let me get this straight." Shikamaru's voice sounded rather tinny inside his black crow mask. "The enemy, who we are presuming to be Iwa shinobi, have holed up in Mt. Gama." "Yes." "And they may also have Kiri nin with them due to a possible coalition of the two villages." "Go on." "And their goal is to weaken, if not destroy, Konoha." "You appear to possess basic comprehension skills. I'm glad all the training I gave you wasn't for naught." "Do we know where specifically the base is?" Kurenai was the one who responded. "No. That's where my team comes in." Naruto hoped that the need to use the Rinnegan wouldn't arise in this situation. He briefly reviewed his skillset. Thanks to his time in the library, in addition to normal training sessions, he now had a respectable arsenal of jutsu of every element. He'd also learned to infuse the other elements into his Rasengan, creating unique elemental attacks with interesting effects, similar to Rasenshuriken. He hadn't used his Rinnegan since the dream of the cave and the clearing, so as far as he knew, he could only use the Deva abilities reliably. If he activated the Rinnegan, maybe that would change. _"Oi, Kurama!' **"What is it, child?" **"Since you told me your name and stuff, does that mean we're cool now?" _Naruto offered his fist through the cage. Kurama seemed shocked for a moment, then busted out laughing. _**"You are a strange one indeed, Naruto. I'll admit it, my first priority is no longer ripping you apart and spreading your entrails all over the village."** _Disturbed, Naruto slowly retracted the fist, which Kurama had pointedly ignored. _**"No, I'm not partnering with you. You have to earn that."**__"Fair enough. I'll keep at it." _

Finally, after nearly an hour of travel, the group reached the base of Mt. Gama. Kakashi held up a hand to halt the group. He briefly surveyed the clearing around the base of the mountain. Silently making a gun with his hand, he motioned forward. That was the signal for Shino to let his tracker bugs loose. Shino raised his arms and a swarm of bugs flew out of his trenchcoat. The plan was for Shino to scout the area around the solitary peak with his bugs, looking for chakra signatures. It wasn't long before Shino rewarded them with "They've found something." Migrating towards the area Shino indicated, the group found themselves in an extremely dense area of trees. It was extremely difficult to see, and light hardly penetrated the canopy above, giving the impression that it was twilight, instead of late afternoon. Kakashi pointed to Hinata, who activated her Byakugan. She gestured in the direction of the mountain. One of the ANBU was sent to scout the area she had indicated. Shortly after, he returned and whispered in Kakashi's ear. Motioning to everyone to come closer, Kakashi whispered in the event anybody was nearby. "There appears to be a large amount of genjutsu woven into the area ahead. Lara couldn't break it, so I suspect that it had more than one person work on it. Sasuke, can you see about taking it down?" "I'll try." The group travelled with Sasuke this time, fanning out around the out of place small clearing in the midst of the dense woodland. Concentrating, Sasuke activated his brother's eyes. Channeling chakra into the ground, he managed to break the genjutsu. As the smoke of the undone genjutsu faded away, a large stone trapdoor in the ground became visible, with an intricate sealing jutsu woven into it. Kakashi looked at Naruto, who had since proven himself to be an expert in sealing. Silently, Naruto emerged from the trees to join Sasuke. Studying the seal, he managed to find several flaws in its wording that allowed him to add his own chakra signature to the list of approved access. Before he activated the seal, he motioned for the rest of the group to position themselves around the entrance to the encampment. Sasuke was opposite Naruto, Kusanagi in hand. The rest of the ANBU had positioned themselves in the treetops. Kiba and Akamaru were several feet away from the stone door, ready to dive in after Sasuke cleared the immediate area. Kurenai, Shino and Hinata were hanging back slightly, as their jutsu wasn't suited to combat in tight spaces. Naruto held up his right hand, his five fingers splayed out. The group tensed.

Four.

The ANBU drew their swords and other weapons.

Three.

Sasuke reactivated his eyes, as did Hinata.

Two.

Akamaru began to growl.

One.

Kakashi moved his hitaite away from his eye.

Cupping his hand, Naruto made a zero sign as he slammed his other hand onto the center of the seal. With a poof, the door disappeared, nearly causing Naruto to lose his balance. Sasuke rushed in without hesitation, and Naruto heard a muffled thud of a body hitting the ground. Looking in the door, Naruto saw that there was a twenty foot drop, and Sasuke had landed on top of a single shinobi. Sasuke darted his head around, checking the surrounding area. Naruto held up his hand to prevent Kiba and Akamaru from rushing in. Not looking up, Sasuke signaled that the area was clear. Naruto parroted the gesture to the rest of the group waiting up top as he jumped in to join his friend.


	12. Assault, Part One

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the exceptionally short and late chapter. This one was rather hard to write. I'm starting to get the idea of how combat scenes are written, so at that I'm improving. (I think)

Really busy as of late, may not upload a chapter tomorrow.

Copyright notice: I don't own Naruto.

In the Eye of a God, Chapter 12

"Assault, Part One"

Slowly, Naruto's eye adjusted to the darkness. As far as he could tell, the stone room was completely bare except for two doorways. A few dim lanterns illuminated the walls with an inconsistent, flickering flame. The rest of the company swung into the room, their presence only indicated by the temporary blockage of light from the trapdoor. Kakashi signaled for the group to split in two and investigate the doorways. Silently, everyone organized themselves in such a way that Naruto, Kiba, Sakura, Shino, Sasuke and two ANBU were to go through the right door, and the rest through the left door. Naruto leaned against the wall, peering into their assigned door. He looked at Kiba, and tapped his fox nose, simultaneously tilting his head to the side. Kiba nodded and after sniffing at the air briefly, held up four fingers and pointed to the right side of the hallway. Naruto nodded an affirmative, and crept into the narrow hallway.

Naruto refocused his eyesight and found a door about thirty feet in. The hallway was uncomfortably narrow, two people would have found it difficult to walk shoulder to shoulder. Looking down, Naruto noticed a number of Shino's bugs crawling along the floor. He didn't question it. Shino probably knew what he was doing. Naruto began to approach the doorway, Kiba, Sakura and Sasuke following him, Shino bringing up the rear with the two ANBU. As he got closer, Naruto began to hear voices coming from within the room.

"So when are we going to do it?" "Mizukage-sama is holding the main force back for the moment. She's waiting for us to get rid of a few of the more powerful shinobi in Konoha. She wasn't pleased with the failed attempt to capture the Kyuubi jinchuuriki." "Well, who are we going after now?" "She wants our group to take the Uchiha and the Scarecrow out of the picture. Iwa apparently isn't committing until we've proven that we can handle shinobi of such a caliber." Naruto could practically hear Sasuke stiffening. He hadn't been told he was a possible assassination target, something which Naruto notably regretted. Hearing this had probably thrown Sasuke off his game. Not by much, but possibly enough to make a difference in his fighting style. When the group had gotten within ten feet of the door, Naruto held up a hand. He wanted to hear more. "How are we going to take these two out then?" "Our intel says that the Uchiha has a girlfriend. We'll use a similar tactic to group A." A different voice chimed in, rather gruff in composition. "And how will you deal with the Copy Ninja?" Silence pervaded the room. A new voice, which Naruto assumed made Kiba correct in his arithmetic, quickly stammered an answer. "W-we'll figure it out." "You'd better. The Mizukage is not tolerating any more failure." This sounded like the end of the conversation. Naruto decided to act. Motioning forward with his hand, Naruto quickly slid up to the door and plastered himself against the wall. His comrades did the same, and Sasuke body-flickered to the other side of the door. Naruto peered into the room. An extremely large interior surprised him. The room was at least fifty feet long, and the width was the same, if not wider. A large fire flickered at the other side of the room, illuminating a table with three shinobi sitting around it. Naruto's eye flicked around the room. _Kiba said there were four. Where is he? _Still looking around the room, Naruto became rather uneasy. _This doesn't feel right. Where is that last guy? _He looked at Sasuke, held up four fingers and pointed to one. Sasuke shook his head. Naruto waved the others over. He motioned for them to fan out in an offensive position behind him and Sasuke. Shino, Kiba and Sakura lined up behind Sasuke, while the two ANBU covered Naruto's side. Naruto held up three fingers.

Two.

One.

Throwing a smoke bomb into the room, Naruto rushed in as Sasuke activated his Sharingan. The three ninja at the table reacted seamlessly. One of them activated a seal on their arm that caused the table to burst into flames as he jumped back. The one closest to the fire whipped out several kunai threaded together by a ninja thread and set himself into a defensive position. The third one, closest to the door, weaved several signs and wordlessly flickered back behind the man with the kunai. Naruto unsheathed his wakizashi and launched himself at the man with the seal on his arm. Sasuke himself was running towards the two by the fire. _Watch our backs for the fourth one guys. _Naruto sliced at the seal user with his sword, hoping to quickly decapitate him. No such luck. The man hopped backwards several steps and quickly weaved a jutsu. "Water Style, Water Whip Jutsu!" A large coil of water erupted from his palm and shot towards Naruto. Tucking and rolling under the coil, Naruto switched to lightning style, and touched the whip above his head, shooting chakra into the stream. A massive surge of electricity expanded from where he'd touched the whip, electrocuting the ninja who controlled it. Not relying on that alone, Naruto sped towards the stunned ninja and chopped at his neck with his hand, temporarily paralyzing the shinobi. Turning around, Naruto noticed that there was a pool of water where Sasuke and Kiba were fighting. _A pool of water? By the fire? _Suddenly, he remembered an experience from many years ago, on an expedition to the soon-to-be Naruto Bridge. "Sasuke! Kiba! Watch your feet!" Naruto noticed that Shino, Sakura and the ANBU hadn't entered the room. _Good. The less they know about our numbers, the better._ Sasuke looked down, and noticed the puddle. Instantly picking up on Naruto's hint, he grabbed Kiba, who'd been about to strike at the two shinobi in front, and threw him away from the puddle, and hopped away from the action himself. The two assaulted shinobi recovered as the puddle reformed around itself, becoming larger and larger until it took the shape of an extremely tall man. Solidifying, Naruto realized that there was a large bandaged sword on the man's back, and that he had gills on his cheeks, like a shark. Revealing pointy, shark-like teeth, the man smiled.

"Hoshigaki Kisame, I'll be your executioner today."


	13. Assault, Part Two

AN: Sorry for the late chapter! I was hella busy this afternoon. It's also rather short. I shall work my ass off this weekend. Maybe you guys will get double length next week!

Copyright: I don't own Naruto.

In The Eye of a God, Chapter 13

"Assault, Part Two"

"Kisame? Weren't you partnered w-" "Yes, you Uchiha-brat, I was your brother's partner. Then you came and ruined everything." Sasuke grit his teeth. "Why are you working for the Mizukage? Aren't you a part of the Akatsuki?" Kisame chuckled. "After that Uzumaki brat killed Leader-sama, the Akatsuki fell apart. I don't know where anyone is now." At the words, 'Uzumaki brat', Naruto tensed. The shark man didn't seem to realize that the brat he talked about was in the room. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed Akamaru, who Naruto had forgotten about, racing over to Kiba. Kiba shook off the dust as he stood. "Did you have to throw me so hard, Sasuke?" "You're welcome." "Shall we skip the smack talk?" Kisame had unwrapped the end of his sword, revealing a large mouth with pointy teeth on the end of it. "Let just get straight to the gutting." The two Kiri nin behind Kisame melted into water. "What the fuck?" Kiba stumbled backwards. "Simple water substitution. We knew that there'd be a team coming. It doesn't matter that you overheard our conversation. None of you are leaving this room alive." Kisame dropped his sword and quickly weaved some signs. Oh no you don't! Naruto bee-lined for the ex-missing shinobi but only made it a few steps before Kisame completed the jutsu. "Water style, Cutting Waves!" A massive burst of water sprayed from Kisame's mouth in a highly pressurized hose. Holy shit, that's a lot of pressure! Naruto ducked as the stream sliced above his head, ravaging the stone wall behind him. Not bothering to correct his mistake, Kisame continued his arc across the room in an attempt to do some damage to the team. "Sakura! Operatives! Now would be a good time!" As Kiba and Sasuke dodged the high pressure hose, Kisame ended the jutsu and smiled. "Wonderful, you have friends in hiding. Come out, come out! I want to play!" Sasuke sprinted towards Kisame, Kusanagi drawn, aiming to slice off the Kiri nin's head. Dropping to the ground, Kisame grabbed the hilt of his sword, laying in the water created by Kisame's jutsu. Suddenly, Sasuke felt extremely weak, and dropped to his knees.

_My chakra, what is this?_ He looked down and saw he was in water, and noticed Kisame's chakra levels rising. _Shit, have to get out!_ Sasuke summoned his strength and jumped to the ceiling. _That was close._ _Such absorption capabilities! _Sakura and the two operatives rushed into the room. "Guys! Watch out! This guy can absorb chakra through water as long as his sword is touching it!" Kiba instantly grabbed Akamaru and jumped onto a wall behind him. Sakura and the two ANBU also jumped onto the ceiling in an attempt to avoid losing chakra. Naruto had dispelled wind-infused chakra at his feet, dispersing the water. "Well well well, it looks like you guys want to play longer!" Kisame started weaving some signs. Naruto jumped towards him. _Quick! Have to- _"WATER STYLE, SUPER SHARK BOMB!"

The base detonated in a gigantic explosion of water, blowing the roof off of the base and launching both groups almost a hundred feet in the air. Naruto twisted in midair, trying to get a handle on the situation. Instantly, he was able to see Sasuke and the two ANBU right next to him. Kiba, Sakura and Shino were nowhere to be seen. One of the ANBU had what looked like wood emerging from his back, grabbing the other operative, whilst creating a large spheroid of wood around the pair. Sasuke had a glowing purple rib cage about him, which Naruto recognized as a part of his Perfect Susanoo. I_ haven't seen you use that in a while, Sasuke. Wait, this energy bomb, surely the rest of the base is gone! Hinata!_ Still twisting, Naruto managed to half-glide, half fall towards Sasuke, grabbing onto the hot ribcage. "SASUKE! CAN YOU MAINTAIN THIS ALL THE WAY DOWN!?" Naruto had to shout over the sounds of rushing water. "THE RIBS WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE THE FALL FOR US!" Sasuke shouted over the waves. "LOOK AROUND! CAN YOU SEE THE OTHERS?" Sasuke turned his attention to underneath them. "YEAH! I CAN SEE EVERYONE'S CHAKRA!" "WHAT ABOUT THE SHARK BASTARD!?" "I CAN'T SEE HIM!" "SHIT! HE CAN'T HAVE LEFT?!" The pair of shinobi stopped climbing, and began to fall through the air. The wooden ball beside them whistled through the thin air along with them. _Shit! __I'm going to have to use the Rinnegan! This guy can easily take us on in a teamfight, this is the only way we can win without casualties. _"SASUKE!" "YEAH!?" "WHEN WE HIT THE GROUND, YOU HAVE TO KEEP KISAME FROM TOUCHING ME!" "DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE GOING TO-" "I AM! DEAL WITH IT!" Retreating from the world around him, Naruto began to meditate as he channeled chakra into the seal on his eye.

Hinata had been looking through storage crates when the world exploded. One second she was using a key she'd taken off of a defeated shinobi to open a locked crate, next thing she knew, she was bruised all on her right side and flying through the air. _What is this? Is this someone the other group met?! Such a powerful jutsu! _Activating her Byakugan, she counted everyone in her group and nearly a hundred feet above, she could see the other group. Sasuke's chakra had taken on a rather sinister quality, and Naruto, she could just barely see, was channeling chakra into his head. _Oh dear. The opponent must be seriously strong if he's going to release the seal. _Looking down, she thought she probably had several seconds before she hit the ground. She thought she could hear someone chant a summoning jutsu over the waves, but that just could have been her imagination. Water pummeled her straight out of the explosion, shooting her out of the main AOE. _Shit. I'm going to use up a lot of chakra breaking this fall. I hope the others haven't been hurt. _She allowed herself to plummet through the stratosphere, nearly hitting several of the gigantic trees on her way down. Just before she hit the ground, she shoved most of her chakra into her feet. "Gentle Fist Art, Light Feet!" Another, smaller explosion erupted from her feet, the chakra storm negating her fall just enough to allow her to land safely. Breathing heavily, she looked back over at the colossal shark shaped explosion of water. Her group appeared to be making their way out of the shark explosion. Turning off her Byakugan, Hinata sat down on the ground, catching her breath. _I may have used too much for the Light Feet, I used up almost all of my reserves. _A large turtle burst out of the slowly falling water shark, presumably with her group on it. She saw someone's head poke out from the back of the turtle. Hinata waved._  
><em>

_3...2...1... _"BRACE!" The shark explosion had receded, and Sasuke landed with the Susanoo cage face first on the rim of the crater made by the energy bomb. Of course, Sasuke didn't land. He floated in the center of the cage, unharmed. Naruto remained immobile on the back of the rib cage._ I've got to let the Susanoo go. If I keep using it, it'll end up corroding my soul. _Dispelling the cage, Naruto landed on Sasuke's back, who had landed painfully on his stomach. _*Sigh* It's going to be a long day, isn't it? _Slowly edging out from under Naruto, Sasuke took great care to not disturb the blonde's chakra activity. He looked around as he stood. Shino, Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru were floating downward a distance above Sasuke's head, being supported by what appeared to be a cloud of Shino's insects. Two ANBU operatives were emerging from the shattered remnants of the wooden ball one had created. _I wonder how he can use Mokuton? _Shaking off his distractions, Sasuke returned his attention to the battlefield. The shark bomb had created a massive crater in the ground where the base had been, and trees had been ripped out of the ground for several hundred feet, and had been blasted into the woods, except for a few of the ancient giants. _Where in the hell is that shark bastard? _Suddenly, Sasuke saw a figure in the middle of the huge crater. The harsh voice carried from the center, taunting the Uchiha.

"Well that's out of the way. Are you going to entertain me more?"


	14. Assault, Part Three

Oh boy. Long weekend. I was a fool to think I could get colossal amounts of writing done. Oh well. XD

Copyright stuff: I don't own Naruto.

In the Eye of a God, Chapter 14

"Assault, Part Three"

_This is bad. This is really bad. _Sasuke's mind was racing at FTL speeds. Kisame's chakra was roughly equal to that of at least two Tailed Beasts. He'd just destroyed an asset of the Kiri without a second thought, surely catching comrades in the blast. Sasuke remembered something that Kakashi had once told him on a mission. _The most dangerous people are those who do not care._ Kisame was sitting in the middle of the colossal crater, smiling up at Sasuke, as though he'd just said something terrifically funny. _I have to get in touch with the other group. _Shino's mildly disgusting bug cloud landed behind Sasuke. "Are you guys alright?" Kiba and Akamaru stepped off of the bugs. "We're a bit banged up, but we can keep going." "Speak for yourself." Sasuke turned around and saw that Sakura was about to fall over. Quickly dashing towards them, he caught Sakura on his back before she hit the ground. Sakura mumbled something about chakra exhaustion before nodding off. Sasuke took a quick look at her chakra systems. Finding nothing life threatening, he relaxed slightly and lowered her to the ground. "She healed Akamaru on the way down, he took a lot of damage during that explosion." "Sasuke, what is Naruto doing?" Shino's deep voice surprised Sasuke, as it always did. _The guy never talks._ Hesitating as he looked upon Naruto's fox mask, Sasuke wondered if he should tell them. Deciding against it, he shook his head. "I don't have the authority to tell either of you that. If Naruto feels like sharing what he's capable of when he finishes, he will. But I can't." Shino nodded. "Fair enough." Kiba wasn't so willing, he opened his mouth to object to Sasuke's avoidance of the question when Kisame's harsh voice rang from the bottom of the crater. "Are you all done bickering up there?" Lowering his voice, Sasuke quickly beckoned to the ANBU nearby. "Okay guys, here's what I got."

Naruto was rather concerned. He'd anticipated that the stress of battle would increase the seal release time. Instead, the opposite seemed to be happening. Instead of the normal ten minutes it took Naruto to release his eye, he was nearly done with the seal after only five minutes of channeling chakra. _I'll have to re-examine the seal when we get back to Konoha, this might have something to do with unlocking a new Path._ Pushing aside his doubts, Naruto coasted through the last glyphs on the seal as he finished the jutsu.

Sasuke's plan wasn't going as well as he'd thought it might. Kisame wasn't just a massive chakra whore, he was a battle thirsty one too. This made him unpredictable, and as such, Sasuke's plan wasn't equipped to deal with it. The plan had been for Kiba and Akamaru to use their Drilling Fang technique on Kisame to stagger him, then having the Wood user restrain the shinobi while Sasuke hit him in the face with Chidori. Kisame had taken a bold risk, and charged Kiba as the Drilling Fang was implemented. Kiba, not expecting such a stupid maneuver, was caught off guard, and Sasuke had needed to cover their retreat with a brief sword fight with the massive shark man. As Sasuke parried one of Kisame's aggressive strikes, he felt a chill go down his spine. Several flocks of birds at the edges of the clearing flew away, clearly agitated. The presence that Sasuke had felt watching him during the training session and in Naruto's living room emerged. _How? It hasn't even been seven minutes! Whatever, all the better for us._

Naruto opened his eye. Taking off his fox mask, he stood up and looked behind him. Sakura was on the ground, clearly asleep, and Shino was staring at Naruto in utter shock. "Wha-" **"No questions. Not now. Where is everybody?"** Shino pointed into the crater. Sasuke was having a sword fight with Kisame, and Kiba was retreating as the Mokuton user tried to pin the colossal man down. Gathering chakra in his feet, Naruto sped down the craterside faster than Shino could blink. Ignoring his wakizashi, Naruto instead elected to summon a chakra rod from within his skin, though this time, Naruto noticed he was able to make it considerably longer, at least as long as his arm. _Another side effect of a new Path? _Whatever the cause, Naruto put on a colossal burst of speed, time slowing down around him. Kisame had overwhelmed Sasuke with sheer force, and was going for a killing blow. _Not today, sharkboy. _

_Is this the end? _Sasuke could see the gigantic sword moving towards his neck. He knew that at that speed, he would die. He also knew his arm wouldn't be able to block the sword in time, and that Susanoo would be pointless at that range. Able to see his death slowly arriving, Sasuke closed his eyes. Did he have regrets? Of course. Killing his brother without knowing the whole story. Not staying alive for Sakura. Leaving Konoha. To name a few. Sasuke was, he decided, rather disappointed in himself. Sure, he'd acquired great power, but in the end, what did it amount to? He'd been distracted since the beginning of the mission, thinking about big life choices, and as such, Susanoo wasn't cooperating with him. He took life for granted and in return, life had bitten him in the ass. In his head, Sasuke sighed. _Oh well._

CLANG. It took a moment for Sasuke to realize he wasn't dead. Opening his eyes again, he was greeted with the sight of Naruto using some kind of black staff to block Kisame's strike. Quickly taking the opportunity to retreat, Sasuke jumped backward a few dozen feet towards Kiba and the other ANBU operative, who'd been asked to be called Yamato. "Took you long enough, dobe." "What the-? You're-!" **"Yes, you blue faced half-breed, I am Uzumaki Naruto." **Sasuke could see Kiba wincing in surprise at Naruto's supernatural voice. The two struggled to break each others defense, straining on their weapons. Kiba looked over at Sasuke. "And I thought your chakra was sinister!" "What?" Speaking rapidly, Kiba looked back over at the battle. "Whenever you use that weird skeleton thing, the scent of your chakra just gives off this feeling of utter malevolence, but this!" "You really think it's malevolent?" "I _know _it's malevolent. There's his chakra scent, and then..." Kiba's voice trailed off. Sasuke filled in the blank. "Feels like someone invisible is watching you?" "Yeah. Like that. And it's so _cold _all of a sudden!" Kisame's harsh tone overpowered their conversation. "Why?! Why can't I absorb your chakra!" Sasuke could practically hear Naruto's smile as he said **"Because I'm not letting you. Shinra Tensei!" **Kisame was flung away from Naruto over a hundred feet. Sasuke grabbed Kiba's arm and motioned for Yamato to follow him. "Come on. There's nothing we can do for him now."

Kisame got to his feet and stared over at Naruto. "I guess this means that you took Nagato's eyes." **"Just the one that was left." **Naruto shifted his stance so his right side faced Kisame, lazily spinning the chakra receiver in his right hand. "I don't suppose you're willing to give answers." **"By all means, ask away. It's not like you're getting away or anything."** Kisame ground his teeth and quickly wove a jutsu. "Water Style, Infinite Sea!" A colossal amount of water bursted forth from Kisame's extended palms, quickly filling up the crater. Sasuke, Kiba, Akamaru and the ANBU retreated to the rim of the crater. On the other side, they could see the other group watching the battle. Naruto cocked his head to the side as he smiled. **"Adorable." **Naruto began to rotate in place, spinning faster and faster and faster, his hands spinning around in such a way that it quickly appeared as though Naruto had created a dome. When he achieved the desired speed, Naruto responded with a jutsu of his own. **"WIND STYLE, GREAT BREAKTHROUGH!"** **  
><strong>

WHOOSH. The water exploded outward away from Naruto, creating a visibly similar effect to Kisame's Shark Bomb as it was launched upward away from the middle of the crater, soaking the spectators. Taking advantage of the situation, Naruto ran at Kisame. _I only have a few seconds before he gains the advantage of topography again. I need to end this now._ Twisting as he braked, Naruto ended up with his left to Kisame, as he went in for an overhead strike that he knew would be blocked. Kisame swung his bandaged sword upward and knocked away the chakra rod. What he didn't realize was that Naruto had formed a Rasengan with his other hand, bringing it in towards Kisame's stomach. Kisame, gloating as he deflected Naruto's considerably small sword, suddenly coughed up blood. Naruto had mixed in his fire element with the Rasengan. He hadn't come up with a suitable change in chakra form for the jutsu, but it did its job. Working it's way through Kisame's chakra system at great speed, the Kiri shinobi suddenly felt as though he was on fire. He was really, albeit in a roundabout way.

As Kisame dropped to his knees, screaming in pain, Naruto unsheathed a smaller chakra receiver, and plunged the black monolith into Kisame's shoulder, paralyzing him. The screams abruptly changed to silence. Naruto quickly took the seal scroll from his belt and sealed the eye away. As he was biting his thumb, he realized that he felt rather weak. _I used too much chakra in the Breakthrough. I need to be more careful. _After he sealed the eye, Naruto ripped a large piece of the bandage off of Kisame's blade, and used that to cover the seal. _I want to answer as few questions as possible._**  
><strong>


	15. Power Spike

AN: Sorry I didn't upload yesterday! Unexpected tutoring session was unexpected. A lot of stuff is happening this week. I wanted to get a chapter out today, but time constraints means it's unfinished. So to make up for it, I'll be uploading Thursday through Sunday this week! Also, probably going to change this title. Not liking it a lot.

EDIT: Holy shit, it's over. Wow. In regards to this chapter not being updated, my computer crashed, and like an idiot, I had saved none of my work for the past hour or so. So there goes today's chapter, because I'm not rewriting that tonight. Apologies to everyone, I'll get around to uploading tomorrow.

Edit2: OKAY. I have not uploaded in over a week. I just need some more time to figure out where exactly I'm going with this. When I figure that out (or when I get a stroke of inspiration) I'll start uploading again. Otherwise I'm going quantity over quality, and I don't want to do that. The series is not dead. If I decide to discontinue the series, (hopefully not any time soon) I'll let you guys know, I won't just crap out.

Copyright: I don't own Naruto.

"Power Spike"

Naruto tensed as the two groups converged on his situation. He had sat down on Kisame, in lieu of a more suitable chair. Breathing in and out, his mind raced to come up with an explanation for his newfound abilities, and inevitably, his new 'aura' of sinisterness. Shino's eyes were masked by his glasses. Kiba and Kurenai were staring in open shock at Naruto. Naruto presumed that the ANBU were experiencing similar emotions. Akamaru was staring at Naruto and growling softly. Sasuke was carrying Sakura on his back, with Hinata walking next to them. Kakashi's face was invisible as ever. "Good work Naruto." "Aye." "What the actual fuck was that?" Naruto looked over at Kiba. Kiba was shaking slightly, whether with rage or fear, Naruto couldn't tell. "I'm not sure what you're talking about Kiba." _Shit! I can't have this conversation here! I have to head him off, otherwise the ROOT ANBU here will tell Danzo about the Rinnegan! _"What the fuck does that mean? One second you're just like all of us, then-" Naruto spoke quickly and loudly over Kiba. "I don't know what you're talking about Kiba, I think that the stresses of combat are getting to you, if you want we can definitely talk about your issues LATER." Naruto knew Kiba would hold him to it, and probably bring Shino along. Kiba got the hint. He growled, sounding like Akamaru for a few seconds. "Yeah. MY issues." Kakashi looked down at Kisame. "Who wants to carry the seafood?"

The journey back went without a hitch. As Naruto and Hinata walked away from the group, Kiba grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him into a nearby alley. Shino and Shikamaru followed close behind. Naruto let it all happen. He knew the conversation was inevitable. Inwardly, he sighed. Kiba slammed Naruto into a wall. "Talk. Now." Outwardly, Naruto sighed again. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you. Maybe Shino would, but you guys wouldn't." "Try us." Shikamaru had since taken off his mask and was now watching Naruto with the intensity of a lion eyeing it's next meal. "To be blunt, one of my ANBU missions resulted in me gaining the third great Doujutsu." Shikamaru's eyes widened. Kiba tilted his head to one side, his mouth open in incredulity. "Quit fucking around Naruto! What the hell _was_ that?" "Kiba, you can't tell me that you've never heard of the Rinnegan." Kiba opened his mouth to say something, and stopped as he realized what Naruto was saying. "Wait, you mean...That you... have _that_?" "Yes." Naruto knocked Kiba's hand away from his shoulder as Shikamaru chimed in. "What are you capable of now?" "As of right now I have a limited control over the forces of gravity, I can see chakra, and I can summon black rods from within my body that act as chakra receivers." Shikamaru leaned back on the opposite side of the wall, his eyes never leaving Naruto's one. Kiba growled. "What. I can't-. _What?"_ Naruto sighed once again. "I did say that you wouldn't believe me." "Naruto." Shikamaru's mind was racing. "About a week ago, I heard a loud explosion noise behind the Hokage monument. Was that you?" "...Yes." "...Mind if I train with you sometime?" Shikamaru disguised his face with an expression of casual interest, but Naruto could see that he was already formulating attack plans based on what he'd seen in the crater. He shrugged, giving up. "Fuck it, sure."


End file.
